A 35-year-old labourer, Channappa Husenappa Narinal, was brutally murdered in Karnataka’s Koppal district on Saturday night, 31 May, in a suspected case of long-standing property dispute and personal enmity. The attack occurred around 10 PM near a bakery in Tavaragera town, just a kilometre from the local police station.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), four men—Ravi, Pradeep, Manjunath, and Nagaraj Narinal—assaulted Channappa with swords and machetes, targeting his neck, head, back, and limbs. The victim died on the spot. A disturbing video of the incident, captured by a bystander, shows Channappa lying in a pool of blood while an elderly woman cries beside him

The victim’s elder brother, Durugappa Narinal, informed police that tensions had been escalating due to an old property dispute between the families. He also claimed that one of the accused, Ravi, had recently issued threats

Police have filed a case under sections related to murder and criminal conspiracy and have launched a manhunt to apprehend the accused. Senior officers visited the crime scene to collect evidence

This incident highlights the ongoing issue of property-related violence in Karnataka. According to the state’s 2022 crime report, disputes were the leading motive in murder cases, accounting for 706 incidents, followed by personal vendetta or enmity with 353 cases