In a suspected case of gang rivalry, a man was hacked to death inside a bank in Bengaluru’s Koramangala on Monday. This latest incident comes despite police crackdown on criminals in the city.

The murder took place inside the Union bank located in Koramangala 8th block around 1.30pm. The victim has been identified as Babli, who is in late 30’s. “He had to come to bank along with his wife and daughter in the afternoon. During this time, 7-8 men, who had covered their faces, barged into the bank and attacked him,” said S Murugan, additional commissioner of police, east.

According to police, the victim Babli has been declared a rowdy sheeter by Adugodi police after he was caught in murder and attempt to murder cases in the past. Police suspect that one of his rival gangs committed the murder. Murugan added that special teams have been formed to nab the attackers. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) officials and sniffer dog squad also visited the spot to collect evidence. “They are analysing the CCTV footage installed in the bank and surrounding buildings. Though Babli is a rowdy sheeter, there were no cases against him since 2011,” the ACP said.

On July 10, the city police had raided around 2,146 homes associated with rowdies, and 1,548 people were taken into detention. The raids come on the back of a series of high-profile murders in the city in the last one month. An associate of Rashid Malabari, an alleged shooter in the Dawood gang, Kareem Ali, was killed on June 22.

Rekha Kadiresh, a former BJP corporator was hacked to death on June 24. A financier named Madan and another named Krishna Murthy were killed on July 3 and 4 in the limits of various police stations. However, Bengaluru police commissioner had claimed that except for one murder, all others were not gang related and there was no rise in gang related crimes in the city. “There is no rise in gang related murders in the city and the police are keeping a close watch on all the gangs. We have been continuously cracking down on these gangs,” Pant said to HT during an interview on July 14.

News Source : The Hindu