BJP MLA Limbavali in soup; booked after bizman suicide

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka minister and BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali found himself caught in yet another controversy after a businessman allegedly mentioned Limbavali's name in a note while blaming five others before shooting himself to death on Sunday.

Kaggalipura police on Sunday evening found the deceased, Pradeep S, 47, lying dead with a bullet injury, in his car parked near Nettigere village. The police also retrieved a death note allegedly written by Pradeep which mentioned names of politicians and businessmen along with their contact details.

According to sources, the names mentioned in his death note are identified as Gopi, Somaiah, G Ramesh Reddy, Jayaram Reddy and Raghav Bhatt along with the BJP Minister Limbavali. The police swung into action and the body was sent to Rajarajeshwari hospital in Kengeri for a post-mortem analysis after a thorough inspection.

The Forensic team retrieved the gun used for the suicide and is currently analysing the finger prints on it. The police are also trying to find out if the gun was licensed. On Monday, based on a complaint by the wife of the deceased, the police filed an FIR against the six persons including Limbavali, mentioned in the death note and booked them under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

It was revealed that Pradeep had gone to a resort near Ramanagara district, along with his family to celebrate New Year on Saturday night. He allegedly left the place on Sunday morning informing his family that he has to reach Sira in Tumakuru district.

However for unknown reasons, he went to his home in Ambalipura and is suspected to have penned the eightpage death note before returning to his family at the resort. The claims indicate that the deceased was suffering from anxiety before he was found dead in the evening. The death note allegedly from Pradeep mentioned that he had approached Gopi and Somaiah in 2018 to open a club in HSR Layout in the city.

"The two had promised that they will pay me Rs 3 lakh out of the profits and Rs 1.5 lakh as remuneration per month for working at the club. I agreed to it and deposited over Rs 1 crore in the bank from May 2018 to December 2018," Pradeep, in his note, alleged. Pradeep added that he sold his house in Mysuru and paid Rs 40 lakh in cash to the duo.

"They had promised to make me a partner in the venture but till date, they didn't pay me a penny. When I went to MLA Limbavali, the duo assured me of Rs 1 lakh for nine months under the pretext of a compromise. I was told that Rs 90 lakh will be returned later," the note further read.

The victim claimed that he was not helped by the MLA and that he was already in humongous debt. “I had taken a Rs 10 lakh loan from Ramesh Reddy. I have paid back Rs 35 lakh by selling my agricultural property. However, they are threatening to extort more money.

Raghav Bhatt has taken Rs 20 lakh from me. He hasn’t paid it back, till date,” Pradeep alleged. In his reaction to the allegations, Arvind Limbavali said, “I’ve learnt that I’ve been named in the note. He (Pradeep) used to handle my social media between 2010 and 2013.

Later he had brought a business dispute of his to my notice and I asked him and his partners to resolve it amicably. I didn’t even ask how much he had invested or make any suggestion to the partners about how much they needed to pay. Later, he came and thanked me. I am not aware why he died by suicide or why I have been named in the note,” he said. The police also retrieved the CDR details of the deceased to probe his call records.

The investigative team is now planning to verify the bank statements of the persons involved. Meanwhile a notice has been served to all the six accused. Further investigation in the matter is on.