BANGALORE: BBMP’s Gandhinagar corporator S Nataraj (45) was hacked to death by a gang of about four assailants on the busy Sampige Road in Malleswaram at 11 am on Saturday.The assailants, who followed the corporator in a car, waylaid his two-wheeler and hacked him to death with machetes and daggers just 300 metres from Malleswaram police station.Though Nataraj was immediately shifted to K C General Hospital and later to a private hospital near Shivananda Circle, he succumbed to his injuries. Police are yet to ascertain the reason for the murder.According to the police, Nataraj was going to Malleswaram Market on his scooter when the assailants in a white Maruti 800 car (CKH- 4362) followed him for some time and waylaid him near the underpass on Sampige Road and hacked him to death. The weapons used by the assailants were recovered from the scene of crime. Later, the vehicle used by them was found abandoned in Vyalikaval.City Police Commissioner B G Jyothiprakash Mirji said the police had certain clues. “We are investigating the crime from all angles. Political or old rivalry may be the reason for the murder. Six teams have been formed and a manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits,” Mirji said. Housing Minister V Somanna was assaulted with a slipper in front of his chambers in Vidhana Soudha on Saturday. The assailant, B S Prasad (44), a resident of Hebbal and native of Thyamagondlu near Tumkur, struck Somanna at around 11.40 am when the Minister was attending to people who had gathered in front of his office. Prasad is said to be an active BJP worker and civil engineer and contractor. Police said he had served former deputy speaker and former MP S Mallikarjunaiah for more than a decade.“I am pained by this episode. I want police to unearth the motive behind the incident. I do not recall seeing the man before but I think he had come to me for a recommendation letter which I had given,” Somanna said.While Somanna said it was a security lapse, Home Minister R Ashok, however, denied it. “The assailant claimed to be a BJP worker and has taken a letter from BJP office and obtained a pass from the security staff. He has also signed in the entry register and has given his cell phone number,” the Home Minister said. Bangalore police commissioner Jyothiprakash Mirji said, “This can happen anytime. It has happened in international and national summits. Can we ask people to remove their footwear?”
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