Who offered ₹5 lakh to kill Suhas Shetty? Karnataka police reveal Mangaluru murder plot

The investigation has led to the arrest of eight people so far, while two others have been identified but are yet to be taken into custody.

The Mangaluru City Police on Saturday said that Adil Mehroof, brother of murder victim Fazil, allegedly paid ₹5 lakh, ₹3 lakh in advance, to a group of men to kill 32-year-old Suhas Shetty, The News Minute reported.

Former Bajrang Dal member Suhas Shetty's mortal remains being takes to his native place, in Mangaluru, Karnataka. (PTI)

The police said the murder was planned in retaliation for an earlier attempted attack on one of the accused by Suhas and his associates, the report added

Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal, addressing the media on May 3, said the crime was “partly motivated by revenge” and ruled out any communal motive. “There is no evidence so far to suggest that the act was communal or linked to any banned organisation,” he said.

The investigation has led to the arrest of eight people so far, while two others have been identified but are yet to be taken into custody. According to police, the accused had made two earlier unsuccessful attempts to target Suhas before finally executing the plan in April.

Suhas was chased in a car, cornered, and stabbed to death. He later died at AJ Shetty Hospital.

Police said that the conspiracy was led by Abdul Safwan, a resident of Shantigudde, who had survived a 2023 murder attempt allegedly carried out by Suhas. Safwan discussed the matter with his friends and eventually connected with Adil Mehroof through a mutual contact. The group then finalised the murder plot.

Police say the accused include individuals from Chikkamagaluru, and that while some of them have prior criminal records, others are being investigated for past involvement in crimes.

The killing comes nearly two years after Fazil’s murder in July 2022, which followed the death of BJP youth leader Praveen Nettaru. Those incidents had triggered communal unrest in coastal Karnataka. Fazil’s murder is currently being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has arrested 21 people so far.

Meanwhile, the police have registered three new cases of stabbings of Muslim men in the city following Suhas’s killing. Investigations into those cases are ongoing.