After a backlash, the newly elected Congress government in Karnataka has reappointed the wife of slain Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist Praveen Kumar Nettaru on humanitarian basis to the government services in Dakshina Kannada district. Nutan Kumari was offered a Group C post on contract basis in the office of then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. She reported to duty and expressed before the former Chief Minister about her preference to work in Mangaluru. Following her request she was given the post of an assistant in the Chief Minister Relief Fund section of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district. The Congress government had withdrawn the order of the previous BJP government, in which she also lost her job.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, on Saturday, May 27, that considering it as a special case, Nutan Kumari, the wife of slain BJP Yuva Morcha activist Nettaru would be re-appointed on humanitarian basis. "It is a natural process to terminate all temporary workers appointed by the previous government. Not only the wife of late Praveen Kumar Nettaru, more than 150 contract employees have been terminated from their services. There is no interference by the government in this," Siddaramaiah maintained.
Nettaru was hacked to death on July 26, 2022, at the height of the hijab and halal crisis in the state. The case is now being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The initial probe has indicated that Nettaru's murder was a revenge killing. More than 10 accused, including three assailants have been arrested. Members of right-wing outfits had then alleged that it was done by Muslim fundamentalists, and also charged that the murderers had links with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).