Murder of man inside Bengaluru football stadium result of fight over playground: Police

Bengaluru: The murder of Aravind, 27, inside the Bengaluru football stadium was a result of a conflict over a playground and it was in the planning for weeks, Bengaluru police said on Thursday, a day after four suspects were arrested.

On September 12, Aravind, a rowdy-sheeter in the city, was chased and killed in the football stadium before an A-division women’s league match.

“The gang of four people was waiting for Aravind at a smaller ground adjacent to the stadium. They had information about Aravind coming there to meet his friend, who was playing in the tournament. The plan was to murder during the match. But Aravind managed to escape and ran into the stadium, where was hacked to death,” said Kamal Pant, Bengaluru police commissioner.

The arrested men have been identified as Stalin, who is also a rowdy-sheeter with KG Halli police station, Louis Jack, Arun Kumar, and Vijay Kumar. One suspect is still at large.

According to Pant, the murder was a retaliatory attack. “The rivalry had started some time ago, over a public ground. Arvind, who is a rowdy sheeter, used to organize games, and the domination over the ground was a contested issue. Sometime last year, there was an altercation between Aravind and Stalin’s brother. Aravind assaulted him during this. A case was registered and the Aravind was let off on station bail,” the officer said.

A senior officer said this incident had led to bad blood between both parties. However, in November 2020, Prashant was sent to jail for around 40 days after the Goonda act was slapped against him. “When he came out of jail there was another altercation with Stalin’s brother. This time, they assaulted him, stripped his clothes, and took some photos. When this news reached Stalin he planned for the murder of the Prashant,” said the official.

Incidentally, it was believed that Prashant was involved in a plan to kidnap Vinay, then personal assistant to BJP leader and now minister KS Eshwarappa, in 2017. But police confirmed that he was not involved in the case. “We have interrogated the suspects, who have explained motive behind the murder. We were able to verify details given by them,” Pant said. The motive was control over a playground.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru police said following the lockdowns there has been an increase in gang-related crimes in the city. Pant said since June since the lockdown was relaxed, there have been 41 murders in the city. Out of these 13 were related to family disputes, the reasons being five feuds between friends, five were over relationships and 5 were over gang wars.

A crime branch officer said while it will be difficult to track murders related to family issues and personal matters, police are keeping a tab on the gang-related activities in the city. “The lockdown had put a lid on such incident it is possible that the instances may increase in the coming days. Our networks are looking out for any planned gang attacks,” said the official, who didn’t want to be named.