In a significant development, the Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru has pronounced senior Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni guilty in the murder case of BJP leader Yogesh Gowda. Kulkarni, currently serving as the Chairman of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, has been named as accused number 15 in the case. The court has found him guilty of criminal conspiracy, and the sentencing is scheduled for April 16.
The court has also acquitted accused numbers 20 and 21, Vasudev Nilekani and Somashekar. Out of the 21 accused individuals in the case, 17 have been found guilty, with two turning approvers. Accused number one, Basavaraj Muttagi, who turned approver, provided a statement, while accused number 17, Shivanand, despite being an approver, gave a hostile statement, leading to a re-accusation request by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The case, dating back to 2016, involves the murder of Yogesh Gowda, who was attacked at a gym in Dharwad city. Kulkarni, who was a Cabinet minister at the time, was arrested in 2020 and subsequently released on bail. However, following allegations of witness tampering, his bail was revoked, leading to his surrender and subsequent release on bail again. The BJP had raised the issue, vowing to take action against Kulkarni, who spent over nine months in jail before securing bail from the Supreme Court.
