Gopal Gowda remanded in police custody till Aug 28.

Mangalore Today News Network

Belthangady: August 25, 2015: The second additional district and sessions court judge has remanded Gopal Gowda, 67, main accused in the near murderous assault on Sundara Malekudiya, a tribal at Kattaje in Neriya village of Belthangady taluk on July 26, to three-day police custody.

A police team headed by B S Satisha, CPI, Sullia and Latesh Kumar, PSI, Punjalkatte PS had nabbed Gopal from a guest house at Puttaparthy in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, 28 days after the incident.

Rahul Kumar, assistant superintendent of police, Bantwal sub-division, the investigating officer in the case told sources that the court has also remanded Vasanth Gowda, Gopal Gowda’s family driver, to three days police custody. The accused who were produced before the jurisdictional court judge at his residence on Sunday was remanded to judicial custody overnight and produced before the open court on Monday.

After arresting Gopal at Puttaparthy around 4.30pm, the team after preliminary questioning reached Gorur in Hassan via Bengaluru where they arrested Vasanth, working at a resort there. Vasanth works as a driver for Damayanthi, Gopal’s sister. Efforts are on to arrest her as well. Police had arrested Pushpalatha, his wife on the same day of the incident and Gopal, Vasanth and Damayanthi had managed to give police the slip, until the duo’s arrest.

The administration has already provided an interim compensation of Rs 80,000 to Sundara Malekudiya and also shifted him to a private hospital in the city for better treatment.

Sundara had suffered grievous injuries to both his hands when he fended off an attempt by the accused to decapitate him with a weed cutting machine. The accused have been charged under sections 447, 504, 326, 506, 307 of IPC.