.38 calibre bullet puts cops in tizzy

Police shocked to find out that inmate Balaji Rao shot at rowdy Seena with bullets issued only to cops, armed forces; suspect possible nexus

.38 calibre bullet puts cops in tizzy

Police shocked to find out that inmate Balaji Rao shot at rowdy Seena with bullets issued only to cops, armed forces; suspect possible nexus

The police initially left pondering how the gun used by supari killer Balaji Rao to shoot Bettanakere Seena, got past the two-tier security check at the Mysore jail on March 12. Now, they are even more bewildered after ballistic experts confirmed the calibre of the ammunition to be .38, which is issued only to armed forces and police officials.

Lucky escape: Seena survived with injuries to both hands and was
immediately shifted to KR hospital. File pic

DCP Basavaraj Malagatti, who is supervising the investigations, said, "Rao used .38 calibre, which is used by the armed forces and prohibited for civilian use."u00a0 ADGP K Srinivasan also expressed concern over how the weapon made its way inside the prison. "We are trying to find out if there's a possible nexus. We are waiting for results of the investigations and then will implement corrective measures."

After the attack
A police team swung into action and detained Bettanagere Shankara and Manja who smuggled the weapon and live cartridges and gave it to Rao.u00a0Malagatti said, "The duo has been grilled to ascertain the smuggling route. We also need to ascertain how the ammunition was procured."

Meanwhile the weapon used in the attack was country made and not ordinance issue. "We have seized the weapon and sent it to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for further verification," he added. He also said that through Manja and Shankara, they came to know that two similar weapons have been smuggled into Gulbarga jail, the details of which have been kept confidential to facilitate further investigations.

R80 lakh supari
During interrogation, Rao revealed that the duo are Seena's cousin and wanted to eliminate him due to business rivalry. Seena and the duo developed enmity over jurisdictional problem, which ended in decisions to eliminate one another. The duo managed to contact Rao and offered to clear a loan of Rs 80 lakh, which was pending, if he eliminated Seena. Owing to his financial condition, Rao agreed.

The incident
Seena, booked under the Goonda Act, was shifted to Mysore from Gulbarga jail. He suffered bullet injuries whenu00a0 Rao fired six rounds at him. The incident occurred when Seena was returning to his cellu00a0 with a prison escort after meeting visitors.