CBI arrests former Karnataka minister

New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday arrested former Karnataka Minister Vinay Kulkarni after questioning him for almost an entire day in connection with the murder of BJP worker Yogesh Gowda in the state’s Dharwad district in 2016, officials said.
The CBI took Kulkarni, a former Congress MLA from Dharwad, into custody on Thursday evening after almost a day-long questioning regarding his alleged role in the murder conspiracy, they said.
The central agency which is looking into the conspiracy to eliminate Gowda has found that Kulkarni, former mines and geology minister in the state, was allegedly a participant in the conspiracy which led to the BJP worker’s murder, they said.
The agency suspected Kulkarni was being evasive in his replies during the questioning and needed custodial interrogation to unearth the larger conspiracy, they said.
Kulkarni had won the Dharwad seat in 2013 but could not repeat the victory in 2018 when the BJP’s Amrut Ayyappa Desai defeated him in the assembly polls. (PTI)