Udupi: All five accused of Naveen D’souza’s murder in front of a bar at Kunharakatte Padubidri police station limits on February 28th have been arrested.

Kishan Hegde (32) from Inna, Ramesh Poojary (43) from Gundibail, Mahesh Ganiga (31) from Palimari, Mohanchandra V. Shetty (23) of Nadsali and Nagaraja Poojary (18) of Uppuri are the arrested. Out of the arrested, Kishan Hegde, Ramesh Poojary and Mohanchandra Shetty are rowdy sheeter, informed Udupi SP Laxmana B. Nimbaragi at the press meet.

A dispute over money, between Kishan and Naveen was the motive for the murder. Kishan had lent Rs. 4 lakh to Naveen. Since he failed to return the loan, it spurred a feud between them. Also there was disagreement between Naveen and Mahesh Ganiga. All these factors combined, led to the quarrel.

Naveen had reportedly said that he would murder Kishan Hegde and Mahesh Ganiga. This led to Kishan and Mahesh together planning Naveen’s murder. To accomplish this, they roped in Ramesh Poojary, Mohanachandra Shetty and Nagaraja, promising them Rs. 2 lakh and a job in Pune. According to the plan, the five left in Kishan Hegde’s car armed with swords and waited near Gloria Bar.

Naveen came out from the bar with two of his friends Girish and Nagesh and left with them on their bike. That is when Mahesh Ganiga hit the bike with the car. As a result, Naveen fell to the ground. Kishan Hegde, Ramesh Poojary, Mohanchandra and Nagaraja then attacked Naveen with swords and brutally murdered him, explained SP.

Intensive investigations on whom Naveen hated the most led to Mahesh Ganiga. He was arrested on March 8th near Bappanadu in Mulki. His interrogation gave information on the whereabouts of the other four accused, who were nabbed in Pune on March 9th.

Mahesh Ganiga, who is a bus conductor, has cases against him for murder attempt and inciting suicide at Karkala rural police station. Nagraj Poojary is a hotel employee and never has had any complaint registered against him, explained SP.

The car used by the accused was detected with the help of CCTV footage, a short distance from the location of the murder, informed the police.

After committing the murder, the accused escaped in the car driven by Mahesh via Belman- Artadi to reach Kolalagiri. Mahesh returned back from Kolalagiri. Kishan Hegde drove the car from there to Mumbai. The police have recovered the 4 swords, a Maruthi swift car and other assets used in committing the murder.

Kishan Hegde is a rowdy sheeter at Padubidri police station. He was booked for murder attempt in Padubidri, possession of deadly weapons in Manipala and another murder attempt at Banasavadi in Bengaluru. He has a hotel business in Pune and was reportedly absconding.

Ramesh Poojary is a robber. He is a registered rowdy sheeter under Shirva, Manipala and Udupi city police stations. There are 9 robbery cases registered against him at Shirva, Kapu, Bhramavara, Manipala and Udupi police stations. There are another 17 cases booked against him for assault at Karkala rural police station.

Mohanachandra Shetty is registered rowdy sheeter at Padubidri police station. There are cases of riot and assault booked against him.

SP has appreciated the police team for solving the crime and nabbing the culprits within 8 days.