Bangalore’s cousin saga nears end, ganglord killed

A six-year-old gang war triggered by two feuding cousins on the outskirts of Bangalore, which has left 11 dead so far, reached closure on Friday with the police gunning down one of the cousins, Bettanagere Srinivas, 34, in an "encounter".

On the run since July 25 — when he is suspected to have employed 40 men, a truck, a mini-bus and four cars to kill Binnamangala Krishnappa, 55, in one of the most elaborate gangland murders in Bangalore — Bettanagere Srinivas was found hiding in an isolated house outside Bangalore.

A team led by Additional Superintendent of Police N Nagaraj shot Srinivas in the early hours of Friday, the police said. IGP, Central range, Amar Kumar Pandey said Srinivas had fired first and tried to flee, forcing them to fire back.

Bettanagere Shankar, who is currently in prison, had reportedly announced a Rs 2 crore reward on his cousin's head to avenge the July 25 killing of Binnamangala Krishnappa. A local godfather, Krishnappa was a former gangster turned real estate businessman and was tipped to get a ticket from the JD(S) for the coming elections. According to police accounts, Srinivas had paid as much as Rs 2.5 crore for Krishnappa's killing. Shankar, 29, used to work for Krishnappa..

Such was Krishnappa's influence that top leaders such as former prime minister and JD(S) leader H D Devegowda was present for his funeral along with son H D Kumaraswamy, and Congress leaders D K Shivakumar, M Krishnappa and Narendra Babu.

Srinivas is believed to have turned against Shankar after a "false" implication in a murder case in 2005 and Shankar's refusal to bail him out. Matters became worse after Shankar joined hands with Krishnappa. Around 2006, Srinivas started emerging as a rival to Krishnappa in the flourishing real estate business and political stakes in the Nelamangala region just outside Bangalore. The fact that Krishnappa provided protection to Shankar, who worked for him, was a thorn in the flesh for Srinivas.

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