Arrested Belagavi MLA, wife in custody till Feb 1

Belagavi: The family of MLA Raju Kage, which was traced by the police in Pune on Thursday, was produced to a local JMFC Court in Athani.

The court sent the MLA, his wife and daughter to judicial custody until February 1st and remanded three other family members to judicial custody up to Sunday.

Soon after the court pronounced its orders, MLA, his wife Shobha and daughter Trupti were taken to Hindalga central prison, where they would be lodged until the further court hearing.

A large number of people gathered at the court premises when the MLA's family was brought in police vehicles. The court did not take up the bail application of the MLA's family, but sources said the bail hearing will be taken up on January 23.

The police have provided high security to the residence of Vivek Shetty, who was brutally attacked by MLA's family on January 1 in Kagwad. With fractured leg and arm, Shetty is still undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Miraj in Maharashtra. However, many of his family members are in Kagwad, a constituency represented by Kage for the last 15 years.

Police sources said all six accused family members of Kage, including the MLA, had kept their mobile phones switched off ever since they fled Kagwad on January 9, thereby making it difficult for the police to trace their location.

During their initial search operations, the police had information that the six accused had fled either to Goa or Maharashtra, but none of the four police teams could locate them until Thursday.

Later, the police got a tip off that the MLAs family went in a private vehicle to a resort near Pune on January 9. Several top police officials from Belagavi raided the resort and arrested them.