Bengaluru/Haveri,  Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday said that he has directed the police to arrest, within 24 hours, the people who killed a BJP local woman leader in broad daylight.

Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a review meeting on the progress of the Bengaluru Suburban railway project (BSRP) here, he said that police already has clues about the murderers and he was sure that culprits will be behind bars within 24 hours.

Echoing Yediyurappa's statement, Revenue Minister R. Ashoka said that the police has definite clues about this murder. "Rekha's husband S. Kadiresh's killers were out on bail just couple of weeks ago and there are multiple leads available to attest the fact that these accused had played a major role in this murder too," he said.

The minister added that BJP Dalit leader Kadiresh was also murdered under similar circumstances in 2018.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters in Haveri that he had directed the police to investigate the murder case thoroughly. "It is too early to comment on anything about any politician's role in this case. The police will shortly arrest the culprits, as the police has all the clues about this murder too," he said.

Congress MLA, Zameer Ahmed Khan, who had been accused by the BJP top brass of sheltering killers of Kadiresh, said that though Rekha was in a different party but he had shared a very good personal rapport with her.

"I treated her like my sister. We may have been in different parties for different reasons, but it never came in our personal relationship like a brother and sister," he said.