Too early to say he is Kalburgi’s killer: CID

Belagavi: A day after the sketch of rationalist Dr M M Kalburgi's killer matched with the face of an unidentified body recovered in Khanapur forests, CID top officials admitted the resemblance but denied of any breakthrough in the case. “Of course the face of unidentified body recovered by the police on October 18 resembles the suspect but nothing can be ascertained until reports from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) are disclosed,” said Hemant Nimbalkar, DIG, CID.

The SIT and CID who have been unable to trace the killers of Dr Kalburgi even after two months of latter's murder are desperate to find out whether the body recovered is that of Sanathan Sanstha member Rudragouda Patil, who is suspected to have shot Dr Kalburgi to death on August 30 in Dharwad. Any decision to exhume the unidentified body recovered in Khanapur will be taken only after the CID gets some clues on verifying the reports from FSL.

Asked why the Belagavi police not take the issue of resemblance of the two seriously when the body was recovered on October 18 in Khanapur, Mr Nimbalkar said the police who recovered the body in Khanapur forests were investigating to ascertain the identity of the dead for the past one week.

“Efforts have been made by the police to publish photos of the unidentified body in newspapers in an attempt to establish the identity. The CID is doing preliminary investigations to find out more about the mystery,” said Mr Nimbalkar.

Mr Nimbalkar visited the spot where the body was recovered and held discussions with police officials who are investigating into the case registered on recovery of the body in Khanapur.

Police department sources said the mere matter of resemblance was not enough to conclude he was the killer, but the way his body had been dumped in the forest and the gunshot wounds certainly raised serious questions about the killer's motives.

Sources said, the person killed has been identified as Hindu but no information has been found about his association with any extremist organisation.

The way in which Belagavi police took the murder of unidentified man so lightly has raised many eyebrows. Even 10 days after discovering the body, the police officials were unaware of the resemblance to the sketch released of Dr Kalburgi's killers. A local resident of Khanapur who had seen the body in Khanapur forests informed newspapers about its resemblance with Dr Kalburgi's suspected killer on Wednesday. Only after that did the police top brass in the state woke up to check whether it would help them in the process of investigation.

Sources said the person who designed the sketches of Dr Kalburgi's killer did not find any striking similarities between the two. Whether the family of Dr Kalburgi will help the police on seeing the photos of unidentified body is something the police are trying to check. Sources said, the Kalburgi family has said that it is difficult to ascertain any similarities between the two.