Activist Rajesh Poojary was hacked to death in March 2014

Third Additional District and Sessions Judge Muralidhara Pai B. on Saturday acquitted three persons who had been charged with the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Rajesh Poojary.

Rajesh Poojary, an autorickshaw driver and a murder accused, was hacked to death by a group of persons in Kalpane on March 21, 2014. Poojary’s wife, Pallavi, filed a complaint stating that threats had been issued to her husband and gave the names of a few persons who she suspected of being involved in the case.

Three arrested

Some days after the murder, the Bantwal Police arrested Irshad (21), Hussain (20) and Imran (20), all residents of Mallur in Bantwal taluk. Meanwhile, Democratic Youth Federation of India activists carried out a protest accusing the police of arresting innocent persons. Then, the State Government handed over investigation in the case to the Criminal Investigation Department, which filed the charge-sheet against the three accused persons.

The prosecution examined 24 witnesses, including three eyewitnesses who, however, turned hostile. The judge acquitted the three accused persons after noting the failure of the prosecution to prove the charge made against the accused.

Terming the judgment as a victory of truth, Shivaraj Kavoor, advocate for the accused, said that the police had arrested the three under pressure. The failure of the police in examining those persons named in the complaint was among the lapses in the investigation, he said.

DYFI State president Muneer Katipalla said that all the three accused persons were involved in small-time jobs. The arrest of such innocent persons was one of the reasons for the increase in murders on communal lines, he said.