Police arrested four persons on the charge of allegedly attempting to murder a businessman in Hippargi in Bagalkot district of Karnataka.

They face charges of trying to kill Hanumant Athani, a businessman, and also of threatening to kill him. Hanumant Athani survived a blast in his car in front of a bar in Hippargi village on July 25, as he was not in the car at that time.

Investigators arrested Shivanand Parasappa Jalli, 29, and Revanappa Ningappa Jalli, 24, their relative Mahadev Beerappa Sangapur, 21, all from Tiganibidari near Babaleshwar in Vijayapura district, and Mallikarjun Murageppa Bhadrapanavar, 23, from Babaleshwar. Two other persons, who sold gelatin sticks, have been picked up for questioning.

Another accused Gajanan Sangapur, who was allegedly involved in arranging explosive material, is absconding. Efforts are on to nab him.

According to police, main accused Shivanand Parasappa Jalli is engaged in a land and financial dispute with Hanamant Athani.

“Shivanand Jalli’s paternal uncle had borrowed around ₹40 lakh from Hanamant Athani a few years ago, but could not repay on time. He transferred around four acres of land to Hanumant Athani,” police sources said.

Shivanand Jalli took back possession of the land, promising to repay the loan with interest, which amounted to around ₹65 lakh. But he, too, could not repay the money.

Hanumant Athani began demanding repayment and asked the accused and his family to vacate the land and house as the money was not returned. The continuing financial pressure and fear of losing the land is believed to have led Shivanand Jalli to plan the murder of Hanumant Athani to avoid repayment of the loan and retain possession of the land, police sources said.

Shivanand Jalli had some knowledge about gelatin blasting of open wells. His cousin Gajanan Sangapur was engaged in using and trading such materials.

Shivanand Jalli approached Gajanan Sangapur and plotted to kill Hanumant Athani using explosives. They bought sticks from shops in Athani and Vijayapura. They practised blasting gelatin sticks in a field. They visited Hippargi repeatedly to study the movements of Hanamant Athani and even the range of nearby CCTV cameras.

They used a 100 feet wire to trigger the blast. They later sent threatening messages to the mobile phones of Hanumant Athani and his brother Basavaraj using a stolen SIM card and a secondhand phone without knowing that their target had survived.

The other accused – Mahadev and Mallikarjun – are allegedly involved in supplying the mobile phone and the explosives.

Superintendent of Police Sidharth Goyal said investigation continues to trace the other accused. He has congratulated the team led by Additional SP M. R. Jagadeesh, and Deputy SP S. M. Zameer, M. D. Madi, G. M. Pujeri, Shivanand Singannavar, Nitin Kumar, Appanna Aigali, Shridhar Magdum, and others for solving the case.

Published - August 14, 2026 05:05 pm IST