Karnataka Congress corporator demands CBI probe into his daughter’s murder
New Delhi: Karnataka Congress corporator Niranjan Hiremath rebuked his own party and claimed that he “openly” named eight people whom he believed were involved in his daughter Neha Hiremath’s murder.

Niranjan Hiremath alleged his daughter was murdered due to ‘love jihad’
He said not a single person he named was arrested and demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI.
Neha Hiremath, a 23-year-old Masters of Computer Applications (MCA) student, was stabbed to death by her former classmate Fayaz Khondunaik on the campus of BVB College in Hubballi on April 18. The attack was caught on CCTV footage. While Fayaz was arrested later, Neha’s death sparked a row between the BJP and Congress.
Earlier today, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Neha’s murder case will be handed over to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and a trial would be conducted in a time-bound manner.
However, Niranjan Hiremath, the Congress corporator of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, expressed his frustration over how the investigation was going on into his daughter’s murder.
“I have given the names of eight 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 are not able to handle it,” he told news agency ANI.
“The commissioner in this case is a lady. Even then, she is not taking a girl’s murder seriously. She is giving only assurances and saying that we are with you. I believe 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,” he said.
Calling Neha “innocent” and “talented”, Niranjan Hiremath alleged his daughter was murdered due to ‘love jihad’.
“Four members of the same community were present with the killer. I had tried talking with my daughter many times on this issue. This should be seriously investigated. The injustice done to my daughter should not happen to other girls,” he said.
‘Love jihad’ is a phrase popularised by Hindutva organisations to denote the relationship between a Muslim man and a non-Muslim woman where the Muslim partner wishes to convert the non-Muslim.
Meanwhile, the BJP staged statewide protests over Neha’s murder. The party alleged that the Congress government’s ‘appeasement politics’ was responsible for the incident.
The Karnataka government refuted the BJP’s allegations of ‘love jihad’ and ‘appeasement politics’ over Neha’s murder.