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Have definitive leads on motive behind Nettaru’s murder: Cops
“We have identified the other attackers and our teams are tracking them. Arrests will be made soon. People who have been arrested so far are giving us information that has proven helpful in the probe,” said a senior officer, not wishing to be named.
A day after Dakshina Kannada police arrested two more people in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Kumar Nettaru in Karnataka’s Bellare, officers in the know of the investigation have confirmed that the teams have received “definitive leads on the motive behind the murder.”
Police said that two men arrested on Sunday — Abid, 22, and Naufal, 28,— were part of the murder conspiracy and a few attackers are still at large.
Nettaru (32) was hacked to death by unidentified motorbike-borne assailants on July 26 night at Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district.
“We have identified the other attackers and our teams are tracking them. Arrests will be made soon. People who have been arrested so far are giving us information that has proven helpful in the probe,” said a senior officer, not wishing to be named.
Explaining the findings in the case, the officer said that the attack was a retaliation to the murder of 23-year-old Masood. Masood,a daily-wage earner from Kasaragod in Kerala who was staying with his grandfather in Bellare, was murdered by a group of men onJuly 20. Eight men have been arrested in the case so far.
While a direct link has not been established between Masood and Nettaru, however, the police have found a connection between one of the men in custody and Nettaru. One of the earlier arrested accused Mohammed Shafiq (27) who was nabbed from Bellare village on July 28 is one of the conspirators in the case, said the police adding that he 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 a controversy over halal meat, Nettaru fired Ibrahim from the job five months ago,” said the officer.
In March this year, Hindu Janajagrithi Samithi, a right-wing organisation in Karnataka had called for a campaign against the purchase of halal meat as it is “culled under Islamic practices and cannot be offered to Hindu gods”.
“Earlier, Nettaru was one of the targets proposed for a retaliatory attack, however, after Shafiq’s father was fired, he suggested to finalise Nettaru’s name. We expect to get more details in the coming days,” he added.
Nettaru’s murder had triggered massive protests by right wing workers against BJP-ruled government led by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. The state government handed over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Karnataka police chief, director general, and inspector general of police (DG and IGP) Praveen Sood said that National Investigation Agency (NIA) is working closely with the local police on the case.
Talking about the investigation, home minister Araga Jnanendra had said that Karnataka police are in constant touch with their counterparts in Kerala regarding the case. The minister however didn’t specify if the attackers are hiding in Mangaluru.
