24-yr-old killed in hate crime, 3 booked: Police

BENGALURU: Police suspect that the 24-year-old man, whose dismembered body was found on the railway tracks in Karnataka’s Belagavi district on Tuesday, was killed in a case of hate crime. Three people have been booked in the case.

While the head of the victim and his feet were found between the tracks, his body lay by the side of the tracks in Khanapur in the border district, about 505 kms from Bengaluru, officials said Saturday.

The body was discovered on the evening of September 28, by the first official cited above, an official said requesting anonymity. It appears that a train ran over the body, thus dismembering it, a senior police official said requesting anonymity.

“His neck was separated because of the train running over it. The same appears to have happened with the ankles,” said the official.

The police suspect the man was murdered and his body was left behind on the tracks September 28.

“But mostly it is a murder,” the official said.

The victim’s mother filed a complaint with the railway police on September 29, alleging that he was killed by the family of the girl he was in a relationship with. According to the mother’s complaint, the girl’s family did not approve of the relationship. The boy was Muslim and the girl was Hindu.

“In her complaint, the victim’s mother has accused three people of having a role in his death. The families were in an altercation in the past as well,” a senior police officer said.

Based on her complaint, the police have booked the girl’s father and two other men for the murder. The case is being investigated by the Railway police and is likely to be transferred to the state police, said the officer, adding, “No arrests have been made so far.”

An official of the railway police said that the body has been sent for post-mortem and all angles are being probed.

The incident has come at a time amid rising instances of hate crimes in the state.

In June this year, two 19-yearolds were found with their heads smashed in Vijayapura district as the man’s parents did not appove of his relationship with the woman who belonged to a minority community.

THE POLICE SUSPECT THE MAN WAS MURDERED AND HIS BODY WAS LEFT BEHIND ON THE TRACKS ON SEPTEMBER 28