Neha murder case: Trying to get stringent punishment for killer, says K'taka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated in Bidar on Thursday that he has spoken to the Public Prosecutor and police regarding ensuring stringent punishment to the accused in MCA student Neha Hiremath's murder case.

CM Siddaramaiah stated, "I have also spoken to the father of the victim. The government has arrested the accused and the investigation has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The CID should file the charge sheet soon and start the trial."

When asked about the BJP demanding handing over of the case to the CBI, CM Siddaramaiah stated, "When the BJP leaders were (ruling) the state did they hand over any case to the CBI for a probe? When I was the Chief Minister earlier many cases were handed over to the CBI. What moral right do they have to ask for a CBI probe now? They should not indulge in politics in this case."

CM Siddaramaiah added that what had happened to Neha was injustice. "We have condemned it. The other political parties should not use it for political gains. The government is honestly trying to punish the guilty," he stated.

Meanwhile, Union Minister and BJP candidate for Hubballi, Prahlad Joshi demanded on Thursday that the Karnataka government should get the religious conversion angle investigated.

"The accused Fayaz Kondikoppa had attempted to convert her to his religion. The investigation has to be done from this angle. Neha's father had also stated this," Joshi said.

Meanwhile, the CID is grilling Fayaz in an undisclosed location and preliminary investigation revealed that he had made meticulous preparations before committing Neha's murder.

He had purchased the knife five days before fatally attacking Neha and had kept watch on her near her residence to study her movements.

Sources said that Fayaz knew that on April 18 Neha had a practical examination and would come to college.

He had come to Hubballi from Dharwad on a bike and had parked it at a place from where it was easy for him to escape.

He was sitting in one of the classrooms until he spotted Neha and tried to speak to her. When she refused to speak to him, he stabbed her 14 times and cut the veins on her neck to ensure that she did not live, sources stated.

Neha's father Niranjan Hiremath had stated that a gang of four to five people operated systematically to get her converted to Islam and threatened her for almost two years. When Neha refused to get converted, they finished her off, he had said.

(With inputs from IANS)