DSP’s suicide in Karnataka: Bajrang Dal activist key suspect in kidnapping case

Kandya, who reportedly acted as a police informant, allegedly got Thejas’s associate to hand over Rs 10 lakh as ransom money to Chikamagalur DSP Kalappa Handibag.

On July 5, Handibag, 30, committed suicide at his wife’s home in Belagavi district, following news that the Chikamagalur police were looking for him after an FIR was filed against him, Kandya and three others in the kidnapping case.

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In his complaint filed on July 4, Thejas alleged that he was kidnapped by a group of six men at around 2 am on June 28. He said the men took him to Bengaluru, where he was kept in a kennel till he was released on the night of June 28, after his associate handed Rs 10 lakh to Handibag.

The CID probe found that on the night of June 27, a few hours before the “kidnapping’’, Thejas was arrested by the Chikamagalur police along with 23 others for gambling at a farmhouse 12 km away from town.

The raid was reportedly carried out on the basis of a tip-off by Kandya. The CID probe found that it was Kandya who got Thejas released on bail, while the others remained in police custody.

“The whole thing was a set-up. Kandya had arranged a hotel room in Chikamagalur for a group of men who were to kidnap Thejas. Shortly after Thejas was released on bail, he was kidnapped by these men,’’ said CID sources. “It was Kandya who got Thejas released on bail in the gambling case to facilitate his kidnapping,’’ said a CID official familiar with the probe.

In his complaint, Thejas said he arranged for Rs 10 lakh to be paid by one of his associates in Chikamagalur. Kandya allegedly asked Thejas to arrange for the money to be handed over to Handibag, and even provided the DSP’s official phone number.

The CID found that Kandya called up Handibag and told him that he would receive Rs 10 lakh, which Thejas owed him (Kandya). He reportedly told the DSP that he (Kandya) would collect the money from him later.

An associate of Thejas, identified as Pavan Kumar, reportedly telephoned the DSP and agreed to meet him at his official quarters. Pavan Kumar also reportedly recorded his conversation with the DSP.

Soon after his kidnappers released him, Thejas procured the audio clip from his associate and approached Chikamagalur SP Santosh Babu. The SP, after verifying the audio clip, ordered the filing of an FIR against Kandya, Handibag and others. He also ordered the DSP to leave office.

Meanwhile, local media also received the audio clip, and began running reports which called Handibag a dacoit.

“He was innocent. He should not have died. He did not know the nature of the transaction he was involved in. His mistake was that he trusted Praveen Kandya,’’ sources said.

The CID on July 12 gave the Karnataka government an interim report on the Handibag suicide. Kandya, who has been absconding since Handibag’s death, applied for anticipatory bail through his wife at a Chikamagalur court Wednesday.