President Sampaje Panchayat: Life imprisonment for conspirators for assassination of President Sampaje Panchayat |

Madikeri: The First Additional District and Sessions Court sentenced two convicts to life imprisonment for the murder of Balachandra Kalagia former Sampaje Panchayat President. The murder took place in March 2019.
Balachandra Kalagi advocated a liquor-free village in Sampaje and opposed illegal activities in the area. The suspect staged the murder as an accident, but a thorough police investigation revealed the truth behind the planned crime.
The accused, Hariprasad, and Sampath Kumar, who died after the incident, were involved in illegally transporting sand, stone chips and gravel in their tippers from Mangaluru and Sulya to Kodagu. Sampath Kumar was a rowdy gunman at Sullia police station. Kalagi objected to the panchayat granting permission for a liquor shop and club in Sampaje village, leading to threats from the duo.
According to a release from public prosecutor Devendra NP, the duo conspired to kill Balachandra Kalagi by ramming a truck into his vehicle. They were accompanied by another suspect, Jayan, a truck driver from Madikeri.
As planned, Kalagi was fatally knocked down while riding a four-wheeler. The suspect also destroyed evidence by throwing cellphones used in the plot into a river before the murder.
The Madikeri rural police, who investigated the incident, later discovered the conspiracy and filed a case against the trio. During the trial, suspect Sampath Kumar died. Judge Prashanthi G sentenced Hariprasad and Jayan to life imprisonment and ordered compensation to Kalagi’s relatives.