"CBI should investigate the case": Niranjan Hiremath, father of murdered girl

Hubballi (Karnataka) [India], April 21 (ANI): Niranjan Hiremath, the father of the murdered girl in Hubballi, demanded a CBI investigation alleging that the police are trying to "divert" the case.
Hiremath, Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, also demanded the transfer of the police commissioner in charge of the case for alleged "negligence".
"I have given the names of 8 people openly. They have not even caught one person. I am losing faith now. They are trying to divert my case. Give it to CBI if you cannot do it. The commissioner in this case is a lady, even then she is not taking a girl's murder seriously... She is working under some pressure. I demand the commissioner should be transferred for negligence in the case. I demand that the case should be given to CBI," Hiremath told ANI on Sunday.
The murder of Karnataka college student Neha Hiremath by her former classmate Fayaz has triggered a political row, with BJP terming it a case of 'love jihad', while the Congress party has denied the allegation. Demands for capital punishment for Fayaz, the accused, have led to protests across the state.
Earlier in the day, former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa expressed his concerns about the Congress government's response, saying, "state government is not bothered about anything. They are not taking it seriously."
"State government is not bothered about anything. They are not taking it seriously. They must take it seriously and take further action," Yediyurappa told ANI.
BJP Karnataka President BY Vijayendra told ANI that, prima facie, it looks like a love jihad case. So rather than getting into the investigation, the CM is trying to protect the culprits.
However, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rubbished the claims of "love jihad" in the case. He said that the murder of Congress corporator's daughter Neha Hiremath in Hubballi is not a case of "love jihad" as alleged by the BJP.
"This is not a case of love jihad. I condemn the incident. We have arrested the culprit, the investigation is going on seriously and we will punish the culprit. We have taken care of law and order seriously to maintain peace and harmony. BJP is using this issue for politics, it is condemnable that a political party (BJP) is using the murder of a girl for political purposes," he said.
Neha (23), the daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on Thursday. The accused, Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently. Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate. (ANI)