Praveen Nettaru murder a revenge for Muslim man’s killing: Officials
The gang behind the murder of the BJYM leader had identified at least three targets, including Nettaru, to take revenge on the killing of Masood, a daily wage earner from Kerala who was staying with his grandfather in Bellare, said a senior officer who was part of the probe into the Nettaru murder
Bengaluru: Police investigation has revealed that the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing leader Praveen Nettaru in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada was a retaliation to the killing of a Muslim man, 19-year-old Masood, in the district, officials aware of the probe said.
The gang behind the murder of the BJYM leader had identified at least three targets, including Nettaru, to take revenge on the killing of Masood, a daily wage earner from Kasaragod in Kerala who was staying with his grandfather in Bellare, said a senior officer who was part of the probe into the Nettaru murder.
After Masood’s murder on July 20, Dakshina Kannada police had maintained that he was killed over a trivial tussle between two men. However, after it was revealed that the Nettaru murder was a retaliation to the July 20 killing, police are now finding new evidence to suggest that the motive behind Masood’s murder was more complex than assessed earlier.
The officer who was part of the probe into the Nettaru murder said that Masood was harassed by one of the accused over a calf. Frequent harassments led to an altercation, and eventually the murder, he said. “He (Masood) was working in Bellare as a painting worker. During this time, a Hindu family had given him a three-month-old sick male calf that he brought home to rear. It is normal for those rearing cows to give away male calves for slaughter. But after the ban on cow slaughter, this practice has stopped. So when Masood asked if he could take care of it at his house, the family agreed,” said the officer.
Masood’s relatives told the police that he had built a shelter for the calf, provided medicines and took care of it. In July when he had taken the calf out for grazing, Sudhir and Shivaprasad, two men who lived near his house, spotted him. The two, who are associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, confronted Masood, alleging that he was going to slaughter the animal, the officer said.
On July 19, Masood went to a shop in the village square to buy milk where Sudhir, who was in an inebriated state, picked an argument with Masood. The argument resulted in Masood hitting Sudhir and then a brawl ensued. “After this, Sudhir called his friends and informed them about what had happened. This gang convinced one of Masood’s friends, Shanif, to call for a meeting to resolve the conflict between the two. Sudhir’s friends had told Shanif that they would resolve the conflict for good,” the officer added.
On July 20, Masood met these men at a location that was selected by Sudhir’s friends. However, when they reached there, instead of a compromise talk, the gang attacked Masood. “During this attack Abhilash, a local VHP worker, smashed an empty soda bottle on Masood’s head. Masood fled from the scene and after almost two hours of searching, he was found lying unconscious by a road,” said the police officer.
After the murder, eight people – Sunil, Sudhir, Shiva, Sadashiv, Ranjith, Abhilash, Gym Ranjith and Bhaskar – were arrested. “The news that Masood was murdered for taking care of a calf had spread across the town during the day. The Praveen murder was retaliation for this. But as Praveen and Masood were not known to each other, targets were selected at random,” the officer added.
The team probing the Nettaru murder case said that one of the suspects arrested on Thursday, Shiyab, is one of the main conspirators and the main attacker. Police said that apart from Nettaru, the gang had identified two others as potential targets, but zeroed in on the BJP youth wing leader because he roamed around without associates, unlike the other targets.
Karnataka police on Thursday arrested three persons in connection with the murder of Nettaru. Seven people have already been arrested in connection with the case, but senior officers identified the three men held on Thursday as the assailants who carried out the murder.
Nettaru (32) was hacked to death by unidentified motorbike-borne assailants on July 26 night at Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district. Alok Kumar, additional director general of police (ADGP) (law and order), said the three suspects were arrested while they were on the move to evade police. The suspects in custody were identified as Shiyabuddin alias Shiyab (32), Riyaz Angatadakar (27), and Basheer (29).
A police officer, who was part of the investigation, told HT that the gang had identified three targets from which Nettaru was selected. One of the reasons for selecting Nettaru as a target was that he was popular following his political works during the anti-halal campaign. “From the investigation so far, we found they have identified three targets. The attack was a retaliation to the murder of Muslim youth Masood. Their requirement for selecting the target was that he should be a local, and a prominent leader in local politics,” the officer said.
One of the reasons for selecting Praveen as the target was that, unlike the other two targets who had accomplices with them throughout the day, Praveen moved around alone. “They were in a hurry to attack and they thought that Praveen would be the easiest among the three to attack,” the officer said.
One of the earlier arrested accused, Mohammed Shafiq (27), who is one of the conspirators in the case, helped in identifying Nettaru as a target. “Shafiq’s father Ibrahim used to work for Nettaru at his chicken shop. He worked there for more than a year. However, when coastal Karnataka was rocked by controversy over halal meat, Nettaru fired Ibrahim from the job five months ago,” said the officer.