Murder-accused Karnataka BJP MLA Byrathi Basavaraj remanded to 7-day police custody after discharge from hospital

CID sought nine days of police custody of the MLA to question him about his alleged links with a gang that executed the murder of a real estate operative, V G Shivaprakash alias Bikla Shiva, 44, on July 15, 2025, over a land dispute.

The court asked the CID to conduct another cardiac check on Basavaraj at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and to produce him before the judge’s home office to answer CID’s questions regarding police custody.

The MLA was admitted to Sri Jayadeva Hospital Friday and discharged on Sunday after doctors cleared his medical condition.

CID sought police custody of the MLA, stating that custodial interrogation was essential, as the Karnataka HC had ordered it in a ruling on February 10. CID Special Prosecutor Ashok Naik told the court on February 13 that the MLA had previously lied to the Bengaluru police in statements about his involvement with the murder.

“It was revealed from the evidence obtained during the investigation that the truth was concealed in statements (by the MLA). The accused should be interrogated thoroughly and the further statement should be recorded,” CID informed the court.

‘Bikla Shiva complained about threats from MLA’

CID also informed the court that the murder victim Bikla Shiva had filed complaints with the police about four to five months before the murder about threats he had received from the MLA and his associates over real estate disputes in East Bengaluru.

“During the investigation, it was learnt that the accused (MLA) was supporting accused A-1 (Jagadish P alias Jaga) and A-20 (Ajeeth Kumar) in their real estate business. An investigation should be conducted after obtaining information from the accused,” CID told the court.

Realtor Bikla Shiva was hacked to death outside his home in East Bengaluru on the evening of July 15, 2025, by a gang of assailants over a real estate dispute with members of a criminal gang allegedly associated with Basavaraj and involved in the real estate business.

The Bengaluru police named Basavaraj in the FIR based on a complaint by the mother of the murder victim, where she alleged that her son had been receiving threats from the MLA and his associates in a dispute over a 12 gunta property at Kithaganur in East Bengaluru.

CID in December filed a chargesheet against 18 of the 20 accused in the murder case, except Basavaraj and a businessman-advocate Ajeeth Kumar, who are also accused in the murder case.

The police informed the courts that the murder had its origins in a dispute dating back to February 2025, when a claimant to a property, identified as Ravi, contacted accused No.2 Kiran K, stating that the murder victim Bikla Shiva had illegally built a compound wall for four 30 x 40 feet sites on 12 guntas of land belonging to the claimant in Kithaganur in East Bengaluru.