Assault case: Kagwad MLA Raju Kage, family absconding

BELAGAVI: The entire family of Kagwad MLA Raju Kage has absconded soon after the police filed an FIR against them for brutally attacking Vivek Shetty, a resident of Kagwad, on Monday.

Three special police teams have been formed to trace and arrest the absconding MLA and his family members.

According to Superintendent of Police Ravikanthe Gowda, the MLA’s family abandoned the vehicle used to take Vivek Shetty to a godown in Kagwad, owned by Kage.

During preliminary investigation it was found that 13 people, including MLA and his family members, took Vivek Shetty to the godown and brutally beat him up. The SP denied  the earlier version, in which police sources said Vivek Shetty was beaten up by the accused at his house in Kagwad.

On Tuesday, the police conducted raids on the houses of MLA and his relatives in Kagwad and Athani in an attempt to trace the accused, but could not find anyone. One of the three teams, which is carrying out searches on the city border, has obtained some vital clues and some of them would be nabbed by Wednesday, the SP said.

Meanwhile, injured Shetty was admitted at a private hospital in Miraj where he is undergoing treatment for serious injuries, including a broken leg.

Another police team from Kagwad met Shetty's family members to question them with regard to the attack. Some other members of Shetty family, including his mother, were also allegedly manhandled by the attackers.

Sources alleged that a team of BJP leaders in the district was lobbying to protect Kage and his family members from an imminent arrest. However, Ravikanthe Gowda said the police teams would arrest the moment any of them were spotted.