Initial probe dismisses 'inability to speak Urdu' as reason behind youth's murder in Karnataka

The incident took a communal turn after the state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra claimed that the youth was killed for not speaking in Urdu, reports IANS.

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The preliminary investigations in connection to the murder of a youth, who was allegedly killed as he was unable to speak in Urdu, has revealed that the language was not the reason for the murder, sources said on Saturday.

The investigation into the matter is being done by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Karnataka Police.

On April 4, Chandru, a youth was stabbed to death in J.J. Nagar of Bengaluru city. The incident took a communal turn after the state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra claimed that the youth was killed for not speaking in Urdu.

National General Secretary of BJP C.T. Ravi also issued a similar statement. However, the Home Minister took a u-turn and retracted the statement.

Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, clarified that the murder had taken place due to road rage incident. However, BJP MLC Ravikumar and others stated that Kamal Pant is "lying" and the murder had taken place because the deceased youth Chandru "could not speak Urdu".

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, following the controversy, handed over the case to the CID for further investigation.

CID sleuths have recorded the statement of Simon Raju, who accompanied the deceased when the incident took place. They have also recorded the statements of Chandru`s family and relatives.

Raju had earlier stated before the media that Chandru was killed for not speaking Urdu, however he told the investigators that the quarrel started after the accused hit the victim`s bike, which later turned into a fight during which Chandru was stabbed to death.

Raju has told the CID that the issue of language did not even come up.

The police sources explained that all the three accused persons including main accused Shaheed Pasha speak fluent Kannada and investigations also revealed that deceased Chandru had a fair grip on Urdu language. The further investigation is on.

The development is a setback for ruling BJP as the state leaders vehemently argued that the murder had taken place because of communal hatred.