Bengaluru Court Injunction Realtor Gym Trainer Murder Media Reports

A Bengaluru court Tuesday granted an ex parte temporary injunction restraining 58 media outlets, including TV9 Karnataka, from broadcasting or publishing 'defamatory' reports linking a real estate businessman to the murder of a 32-year-old gym trainer. The realtor, who has been evading arrest, approached the court arguing that media broadcasts linking him to the murder of trainer Vijay Yadav would cause irreparable damage to his personal and professional reputation. The trainer was allegedly in a relationship with his young daughter. Reviewing the material, the court observed that the plaintiff provided screenshots of prominent news headlines and photographs linking him directly to the crime. The bench highlighted the legal discrepancy in the media coverage, stating, "As rightly submitted by the learned counsel for the plaintiff, in the FIR related to the case. no person's name is mentioned as an accused, rather it is mentioned as 'accused not known.'" "Under the above facts and circumstances of the case, telecasting defamatory statements against the plaintiff would invariably cause hardship to his reputation. Wherefore, it appears to the court that the plaintiff's right to dignity of living will be affected, if the defendants further telecast the defamatory news against the plaintiff," the court said while ruling that "the preventive remedy of temporary injunction needs to be granted". The case dates back to June 6, when Vijay, a gym trainer based in Electronic City, went missing. On June 9, his badly decomposed body was discovered in a forested stretch near Bannerghatta National Park. Because the body was unrecognisable, the Bengaluru Rural police initially registered an FIR for the murder of an unidentified person by unknown assailants. Using call detail records and technical surveillance, the police established the victim's identity and subsequently arrested four contract killers from Anekal on June 21: Srirama, Sumith, Venkateshaiah, and Babu. According to police sources, Vijay, who was married with two children but estranged from his wife amid ongoing divorce proceedings, had previously eloped with the realtor's daughter. Following a three-week police search triggered by a parental complaint, the daughter had returned to her family. The victim's family has since alleged that the wealthy realtor orchestrated a contract killing to end the relationship. Police reject viral frame-up claim of suspect's wife In a related development, a viral video surfaced on Monday in which a person identifying herself as the wife of the realtor alleged that police had falsely implicated her husband in the murder case. The Bengaluru Rural police dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and said they were aimed at obstructing the ongoing investigation into the gym trainer's murder. According to the police, multiple accused have already been arrested and interrogated, and evidence collected during the investigation, including scientific and technical evidence, points to the involvement of the realtor and his associates. The police said the investigation into the conspiracy and the role of all the suspects is continuing.