Police in Bengaluru on Thursday arrested four men in connection with the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker R Rudresh on October 16, NDTV reported. Police Commissioner NS Megharikh said Rudresh was killed for "personal reasons", and that the attack on him was not an attempt to target the organisation.
Megharikh also said the four – Waseem Ahmed, Mohammed Mazar, Mohammed Mujibulla and Irfan Pasha – had become irked with Rudresh’s growing financial and political clout, according to The New Indian Express. He further said the four alleged that the RSS worker had been harassing a specific community, and that they planned their attack two weeks before his murder. They tracked Rudresh’s movements and were looking for the perfect opportunity to attack him, according to the commissioner.
“Police seized two bikes and the weapon used by the accused,” Megharikh said. Officials are now investigating whether any other RSS activists were being tracked or monitored by the group. Officials said they were looking for similarities with three other political murders reported in Karnataka, according to the report.
Rudresh was hacked to death by two motorcycle-borne assailants near Commercial Street in Bengaluru. Both the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that the murder was part of a series of attempts to “eliminate” workers from the organisation. Karnataka BJP president BS Yeddyurappa demanded an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency into the murders of all Sangh workers in the state. Dozens of demonstrations were also held by the two outfits to protest against the murder.
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