The police have rounded up three persons for questioning in the murder of a repeat offender in Gangawadi in Belagavi on Sunday night.
The three were rounded up from some villages surrounding the city, a police officer said.
He is part of a team that is investigating the murder of Shahabaz Khan (24), who was facing several criminal cases.
He also faced charges in some serious crimes and the police had included his name in the list of repeat offenders.
A gang of four or five persons attacked him when he was leaning over his motorcycle near a hospital in Gangawadi.
Eyewitness accounts told the police that Shahabaz Khan ran towards the residence of a former Deputy Superintendent of Police who is living in the neighbourhood after his retirement.
However, the assailants gained speed upon their target and hacked him near the officer’s house.
He was bleeding profusely when the police shifted him to the district hospital with help from local residents. He died in a few minutes as he had been grievously wounded.
The police suspected that a long-standing dispute over money could have led to the attack.
The police said that Shahabaz Khan went into hiding after attacking two persons near a hotel in Kakati. There were rumours that he was hiding in Goa and that he had returned to Belagavi in the recent months.
A case has been registered in the Mala Maruti Police Station. Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikram Amate has constituted a team of officers led by B.R. Gaddekar to apprehend the accused.
