Bengaluru, 16 April

A special court for MPs and MLAs on Thursday reserved its order on the quantum of sentence for convicted Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni and 16 others in the 2016 murder case of BJP leader Yogesh Goudar.

The court had held the accused guilty of criminal conspiracy and related offences on 15 April.

On Thursday, the court heard arguments from the prosecution and defence on the quantum of punishment.

The court said the accused were also convicted under various sections related to unlawful assembly, rioting and murder. Several of them were additionally held guilty of causing the disappearance of evidence.

Two others, Vasudeva Rama Nilekani and Somashekar Basappa Nyamagoud, were acquitted after being given the benefit of doubt.

The court also directed that perjury proceedings be initiated against multiple witnesses for allegedly giving false testimony.

The case pertains to the killing of Yogesh Goudar, a BJP leader and former Dharwad Zila Panchayat member, who was hacked to death at a gymnasium in Dharwad.

Kulkarni, who was a minister at the time of the incident, was arrested in 2020 and later granted bail. He was later taken to the Bengaluru Central Jail.

Smoke engulfs bus carrying convicted Congress MLA

A major accident was averted after a bus carrying murder convict Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni and 16 accomplices developed a technical snag near Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.

The incident took place on Wednesday, when a suspected short circuit combined with a diesel leak led to heavy smoke inside the bus, triggering panic among the occupants, including personnel of the Central Bureau of Investigation escort team.