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On August 28, Veerendra, alias Mujju Talakal, and another accused allegedly hacked to death Dadapeer Udayakar, 35, who was acquitted of the 2015 murder of Maruti Talakal.

The police said Veerendra was a minor when his brother was killed but continued to harbour a grudge against Dadapeer.

“His mother Shakuntala Talakal would repeatedly tell her younger son that Dadapeer was responsible for the death of his elder brother. She created a sense of fear in him, telling him that if he did not act, Dadapeer could one day kill him as well. She kept provoking him and telling him that he should take revenge for his brother’s murder,” said N Shashi Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Hubballi-Dharwad.

The police said that Shakuntala congratulated Veerendra after the murder, gave him a reward, and told him that she had been waiting for him to kill Dadapeer.

Dadapeer had come to Hubballi with an elderly man on August 28. After tracking his movements, the accused allegedly collected machetes and other weapons concealed at their homes and elsewhere. Veerendra attacked him with a machete while he was sitting near a salon at Basava Colony Cross, the police said. He tried to escape but was hit by a two-wheeler and fell. The accused followed him and fatally attacked him with machetes near Siddeshwar Park.

The police identified Veerendra and Deepak Chalawadi as the main accused, along with Shakuntala Talakal, Rakshit Bandivaddar, Taufiq Horakeri, and Farooq Nargund, who allegedly assisted them by arranging a vehicle, money, clothes, and weapons for the murder, besides helping them evade detection.

The police further said Deepak also had previous enmity with Dadapeer.

The police are on the lookout for three or four more people suspected of involvement in the murder. Further investigation is underway.

According to the police, Dadapeer had been living in Kalaghatgi taluk since around 2017. He engaged in agriculture and poultry farming.