In a major development, the Bengaluru police have arrested the sister-in-law and nephew of slain BJP leader Rekha Kadiresh, officials said on Monday.
Kadiresh was killed by a group of assailants in broad daylight on Thursday, sending shockwaves across the city. The arrested were identified as Mala (50) and Arul (22), both residents of Cottonpet.
Police said that Mala, the elder sister of S. Kadiresh, had been an integral part of the Ganja peddler gang that was formed by him about three decades ago.
This gang controlled the marijuana racket, illicit liquor making and other allied businesses including extortion.
"Mala too was arrested in the past for running an illicit liquor den. She was popular as the hooch queen till sometime back. After her slain brother, S. Kadiresh, was hacked by a rival gang in 2018, his second wife, Rekha, had started distancing from them and played a crucial part in 'image building' of Kadiresh.
After she 'succeeded' in transforming his image from a notorious criminal' to a 'Robbinhood' of that area, she joined politics and eventually she was the beneficiary among all family members as "she was elected twice to Bengluru's civic body," the police explained.
Other family members
However, this did not go well with other family members including Mala, Peter and other relatives, who were still stuck deep in the crime world. Just two months ago, a move to register Peter as a rowdy-sheeter was dropped but the association with crime continued.
After Kadiresh's murder in 2018, Mala started nursing an ambition to represent the ward Rekha had been representing till 2018 for two terms in a row. Rekha had remained adamant as the entire wealth and properties of Kadiresh automatically transferred to her after his death, further fueling bad-blood within the family, according to the police.
As Rekha was gearing up to contest the upcoming Bengaluru civic body on a BJP ticket, the other family members were contemplating to field Rekha's sister-in-law, Mala, or her daughter Kasturi or Arul's wife Purnima from another party in the same ward but developed cold feet at the growing popularity of Rekha and the prospect of their imminent defeat, police explained.
Rekha, who had become familiar in the ward, also started distributing food packets at regular intervals when the Covid-impacted poor people in the ward lost their jobs. This has further fueled their fears, said the police, who have registered and probing the case.
