Kalburgi murder: Killers underwent firing practice near Dharmasthala

Dharwad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of rationalist researcher M M Kalburgi revealed that the assailants had undergone firing practise at an isolated area in the thick jungles between Mangaluru and Dharmasthala for more than 15 days.

As per the sources, the SIT team had taken the suspects to the spot where some vital evidence was collected.

Furthermore, Praveen Chatur, a suspect in the case arrested in Hubballi on May 31, has revealed that after Ganesh Miskin opened fire on Dr Kalburgi, both of them rode to Kittur on a bike and later fled to Mumbai. The bike they rode and used in the murder was stolen in Hubballi with the help of one Vasudev Suryavanshi, a mechanic.

Is also gathered that the SIT officials will be camping in Dharwad for the next two days for taking the suspects to other places related to the crime and record their statements before filing the charge sheet.

It may be recalled that 77-year old Kalburgi, the former Vice-Chancellor of Hampi University and a well-known scholar and epigraphist, was shot dead in broad daylight at his residence in Kalyan Nagar in Dharwad, Karnataka, on August 30, 2015. Born in 1938, he was a Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer of old Kannada literature.