Daijiworld Media Network – Madikeri (SP)

Madikeri, Sep 18: Former zilla panchayat president and Congress leader, Iqbal Hassan (46), was shot dead at point blank range when he was having lunch on Wednesday September 17 afternoon at Hotel Sangam at Virajpet in the district. The victim, a native of Chamiyala village, had visited the hotel located near clock tower in Virajpet to have food with his friends, when miscreants struck.

Iqbal, who is survived by wife and two sons, was presumably slain relating to a land dispute in Chamiyala village, which is located about eight km away from Virajpet. Two groups had fought over ownership of a piece of land in that village, and cases had been filed by both the gangs in the rural police station. A compromise had been struck between the two gang members, when they visited the police station on Wednesday morning, with the involvement of police.

While the bullets directly pierced the chest of Iqbal, Chandrashekhar from Shivakeri in Virajpet, who was sitting in a chair next to him, also suffered bullet injuries to his chest and right leg. However, Chandrashekhar, who was provided first aid at the government hospital in Virajpet before being rushed to the district hospital here, is out of danger, it is gathered.

As the firing happened after striking the above compromise, the police believe that the other gang was behind this act. Iqbal, an active worker of Congress party, happened to be an office bearer of the party's district minority cell.

A large crowd gathered outside Sangam Hotel immediately after news about the shootout spread like wildfire. Policemen rushed to the spot and guided procedures connected with the incident, besides recording statement from D R Raju, father of injured Chandrashekhar. Postmortem was conducted by chief medical officer, Dr Muralidhar.