4 min readBengaluruFeb 14, 2026 10:45 AM IST
Karnataka MLA Byrathi Basavaraj, 64, who was arrested by the CID unit of the Karnataka Police on Thursday in connection with the murder of realtor V G Shivaprakash alias Bikla Shiva, was sent for an additional medical check-up on Friday after the agency produced him before a special magistrate’s court.
Although the CID sought nine days of police custody to question the BJP MLA about his links with a gang that executed Shiva’s murder on July 15, 2025, over a land dispute with an associate of the MLA, the special court referred Basavaraj for a cardiac revaluation on the basis of a Bowring Hospital report.
The court has asked the CID to subject Basavaraj to a cardiac check at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research on Saturday and to produce him at the judge’s home office to answer the question of police custody as sought by the CID.
Basavaraj was arrested in Bengaluru on Thursday on his arrival from Ahmedabad after the Supreme Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. He spent Thursday night in a prison cell and was produced in court on Friday afternoon after a medical check-up.
After he was produced in court, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ashok Naik told the court that his custodial interrogation was essential as the Karnataka High Court had ordered the same in a ruling on February 10. He further said that Basavaraj had previously lied to the police about his involvement in the murder.
“It was revealed from the evidence obtained during the investigation that the truth was concealed in statements (by the MLA). The accused should be interrogated thoroughly, and the further statement should be recorded,” the CID told the court.
The court was also informed that Shiva had filed complaints with the police about four to five months before the murder about allegedly receiving threats from the MLA and his associates over real estate disputes in east Bengaluru.
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“During the investigation, it was learnt that the accused (MLA) was supporting accused A-1 (Jagadish P alias Jaga) and A-20 (Ajeeth Kumar) in their real estate business. An investigation should be conducted after obtaining information from the accused,” the court was informed.
Meanwhile, the special court remanded Basavaraj’s close associate, businessman-advocate A G Ajeeth Kumar, to six days of police custody. Kumar, who has a criminal history in Bengaluru and was known in criminal records as ‘Malayali Ajeeth’, was also arrested on Thursday after a special court cancelled the interim bail granted on November 10 last year.
Shiva was hacked to death outside his home in east Bengaluru on the evening of July 15, 2025, by a gang of assailants over a real estate dispute with members of a criminal gang associated with Basavaraj.
Basavaraj was named in the FIR after Shiva’s mother lodged a complaint alleging that he had been receiving threats from the MLA and his associates over a 12-gunta property in Kithaganur.
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The CID earlier filed a chargesheet against 18 of the 20 accused in the murder case in December, except Basavaraj and Kumar.
The police have informed the courts that the murder had its origins in a dispute dating back to February 2025, when a claimant to a property identified as Ravi contacted accused No.2 Kiran K, stating that Shiva had illegally built a compound wall for four 30 x 40 sites on 12 guntas of land belonging to the claimant in Kithaganur.
