Bengaluru: CID SP Bhushan Gulabrao Borase, who was supervising the high-profile murder case of renowned scholar MM Kalburgi, has been appointed as the SP of Dakshina Kannada district.

The decision to transfer Borase is a serious setback to the probing of the murder case and might slow down the investigation as the new officer will have to study the case all over again now.

The case was handed over to Borase by the senior officials in the CID after he assumed charge as the second supervising investigation officer three months back as they were not happy with the ongoing probe and wanted quick results. The case was earlier handled by another SP D. C. Rajappa.

However, with Borase being transferred as the new SP of Dakshina Kannada, the case is set to see its third supervising investigation officer.

An officer reacting on the matter, said, “It’s always good to have one officer to supervise the case. Considering the veracity of Dr. Kalburgi’s murder case and the lack of clues about the assailants, it would have been better that Borase was retained. Also, he was posted just a few months ago to CID and the investigation was on full swing. Co-ordinated efforts were being made to crack the case. With his transfer, the case has to be handed over to another officer, who will have to study the case in detail now. This would, in a way, slow down the pace of investigation,”

Reportedly, SP Ida Martin Marbaniang, who is currently handling the second PU question paper leak case and other cases, might probe the Kalburagi murder case.