Three more men have been arrested in connection with the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada, the police announced on Thursday, August 11. The three men — Shiyabuddin, Riyaz and Bashir — were nabbed in Talapady, south of Mangaluru. They were the assailants who attacked Praveen, Additional General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar said.
The officer said that the trio are the main accused in the case. “We have arrested the assailants based on definitive information we received. The three arrested are the main accused in the murder of Praveen Nettaru,” the ADGP said. The accused, Shiyabuddin, a resident of Sullia, worked as a supplier of cocoa to Campco, while Bashir, a resident of Yelimale, worked at a hotel. The third accused, Riyaz, a resident of Anadka, worked as a chicken supplier. “We have arrested seven persons earlier who were a part of a conspiracy/hit squad. This brings the total number of arrests to 10 in connection with Praveen’s murder,” the ADGP said.
He added that the police will hand over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after questioning the trio about their motive to kill Praveen. The police official said that the murder weapon is yet to be found and added that the police have identified six vehicles, five two-wheelers and one car, suspected to have been used by the assailants.
Alok Kumar added that the trio’s links to the Muslim organisation Popular Front of India will be investigated. “From day one, we have said that the assailants have suspected links to PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). We have got details that they belonged to certain groups but we can’t reveal this in the public domain as the investigation is in the preliminary stage. We will put it on record after the questioning and once the chargesheet is filed,” Alok Kumar added.
Alok Kumar has been posted in Mangaluru following a series of murders in the coastal Dakshina Kannada district. Praveen Nettaru, a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker, was hacked to death outside his chicken shop in Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district on July 26.
His murder came days after Masood, a 19-year-old, was killed by a group of assailants in Kalanja village close to Bellare on July 21. Two days after Praveen’s murder, Fazil, a 23-year-old cleaner working in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), was attacked by a group of assailants outside a cloth store in Suratkal, on July 28. In the case of Fazil’s murder, district police arrested a gang of six men and said that the gang planned to kill Fazil following the murder of Praveen.
The series of murders dampened the one-year anniversary celebrations of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s tenure in office. The Chief Minister cancelled programmes set to be held over the completion of one year in office following protests from BJP workers angry over the murder of Praveen Nettaru.