Mahantesh murder case: Forget killers, cops have not traced eyewitness too

BANGALORE: Police probe into SP Mahantesh’s murder stands at where it was when the murderous assault happened on him five days ago. In fact, investigators were so clueless that they were hoping that the official may survive the attack and provide them leads.
Now that the officer has succumbed to the injuries, the number of investigating teams has gone up from two to four.But there is still no trace of the lone eyewitness to the attack that happened on Palace Road in front of the house of the Chief Justice of the Karnataka HC.
A scooterist is said to have seen four men coming in a Maruti Omni van waylaying Mahantesh who was coming in his Maruti 800 car. The foursome allegedly pulled out Mahantesh , hit him with iron rods and threw him on to the ground before driving away. The scooterist, who is believed to have come to pick up someone attending a conference in the Atria hotel on the other side of the road, alerted the hotel guards before going his way.
Mahantesh carried two phones, while only one was found on his person. Police investigations into the audits done by Mahantesh too have not led to anything.
“We have not ruled out professional reasons behind the attack but we are exploring some of the leads suggesting family-related problems,” DCP (central) BR Ravi Kante Gowda said.