Bengaluru, Dec 9: Home Minister Ramlinga Reddy has already clarified that there is no connection between journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh murder case and Ravi Belagere’s arrest.
However, the police stumbled upon the plot to kill journalist Sunil Heggaravalli while interrogating suspects in connection with the murder of Gauri Lankesh.
Indi in Vijayapura district is a hotbed of illegal gunrunners and supari killers, which prompted the SIT probing Gauri’s murder to round up gunrunners from the region trying to trace the source of the 7.65-mm country-made pistol used to kill her.
The SIT has yet to get a breakthrough in the Gauri murder case, but during their background check, they learned that a hitman and gunrunner from the region, Tahir Hussain — who had no role in the Gauri murder case — was in Bengaluru and tipped off the Bengaluru police.
It was his arrest in Bengaluru on December 3 that led to uncovering the Ravi Belagere hit-job plot. Shashidhar Ramachandra Mundewadi, the hitman now arrested, knew Hussain from their gunrunning network.
After he was released on bail in an arms case in the last week of October, he came and contacted Hussain in Bengaluru on an unrelated mission.
Hussain’s arrest and a careful probe of his call records led the police to Mundewadi, who spilled the beans on contract by Mr. Belagere. Mr. Belagere and Hussain are not acquainted with each other.


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