The National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided around 30 locations in Karnataka’s Puttur and Sullia towns on Tuesday in connection with the murder case of BJYM worker Praveen Nettaru. The NIA teams have been investigating multiple people in the murder case that led to several communal clashes in the state.
Freedom community hall, buildings owned by the Social Democratic Party of India, were among the list of places where the central agency conducted raids.
Earlier, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the murder case of Nettaru is handed over to NIA. Nettaru was murdered in July at Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district.
Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra earlier suspected that the killers might have fled to Kerala as they are sponsored by outfits like Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). He said, “Such atrocities have taken place earlier in the coastal region which shares a border with neighbouring Kerala. In the Nettaru case, it is possible that the killers came from Kerala state and fled back to Kerala.”