Mangaluru: Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader is caught in eye of storm after a picture of him with Ilyas Ullal has gone viral following murder of Deepak Rao.

Deepak, a youth from Katipalla was hacked to death on Wednesday and in a brisk operation four involved in coldblooded murder were nabbed.

Illyas Ullal happens to be a close associate of Pinky Nawaz, an accused in Deepak murder case.

Soon Whatsapp messages claiming that Khader had close rapport with the murderers have been making rounds and clearing the air, the minister, in a press meet on Friday said that he has no connections with Illyas, who is identified with Target Group, which is presently behind bars for attacking a congress leader.

Calling it an exercise to tarnish his image, Khader said that Illyas had contested youth congress polls by applying online and had lost the elections. He then went on to become vice-president of youth congress.

“I could have not controlled aspirants applying online. However, since there were cases against him, I had intimated the state leaders and got him expelled, ” claimed Khader adding that the attempts of Illyas to open Target Group office in Ullal was squashed by the police.

Condoling death of Deepak, Khader said that no compensation can ever fill the void that has been created for his family. “The district administration will do it’s best for the family, ” he said.