By IANS,
Bangalore : A Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) worker was killed in a poll-related clash between two groups of the JD-S and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJ) in Davanagere Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, a police official said.
Vijaykumar Kondaji, 45, died of head injuries sustained during the clash.
“A verbal duel between JD-S workers and BJP cadres an hour after polling ended at 5 p.m. turned violent, resulting in the death of Kondaji. We have registered a case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the unidentified accused,” Davanagere superintendent of police (SP) Sandeep Patil told IANS on phone from Harihar, about 275 km from here.
The provocation for the clash was the alleged support extended by JD-S workers to Congress candidate S.S. Mallikarjun, who is locked in a triangular contest against K.B. Kallerudreshappa of the JD-S and G.M. Siddeswara of the BJP, a sitting member of parliament.
“We have rushed three teams to arrest the accused. We are in search of five BJP supporters who are suspected to have been involved in the incident,” Patil said.
The situation in Amarnath colony, where the clash took place, remained tense. Two platoons (30 each) of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) were rushed to the spot.
Kondaji’s widow V. Honnamma, a member of the Harihar local body, accused the police of not providing security to her husband, who had sought police protection last week, fearing threat to his life from BJP supporters.
About 60.2 percent voting was recorded in the Davanagere constituency, which went to polls along with 10 other Lok Sabha constituencies in the final phase in the state.