E-Paper
Man who helped Fazil’s killers held: Cops
Fazil, a daily wage worker at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), was hacked to death on the evening of July 28. The police had earlier arrested six people —Ajith Crasta, Suhas Shetty, Giridhar, Abhishek, Srinivas and Deekshit — in connection with Fazil’s murder. The attack was pre-planned, police said.
The Mangaluru city police have arrested one more person in connection with the murder of Mohammed Fazil, taking the total number of arrests to seven said officials on Thursday. Police identified the accused as Harshith (28), a resident of Bantwal. Police said that he had allegedly provided shelter to those who committed the crime.
“Information about Harshith came to the fore during the interrogation of the other accused who are in custody. They told that they were living with him after the murder. We will seek Harshith’s police custody to find if there are any more accomplices in the crime,” said a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named.
Fazil, a daily wage worker at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), was hacked to death on the evening of July 28. The police had earlier arrested six people —Ajith Crasta, Suhas Shetty, Giridhar, Abhishek, Srinivas and Deekshit — in connection with Fazil’s murder. The attack was pre-planned, police said.
HT had reported earlier quoting Mangaluru police commissioner, N Shashi Kumar that the six people came together with the aim of “killing someone” at the earliest and planned Mohammed Fazil’s murder for three days. Responding to a question on whether Fazil was hacked to death in retaliation for Bharatiya Janata Party leader Praveen Nettaru’s killing, Kumar said further interrogation was required to ascertain that.
Police said the six, Suhas Shetty, 29,Mohan Singh, 26, Giridhar, 23, Abhishek, 21, Shrinivas, 23, and Deekshith, 21, have been involved in several crimes in the past.
“The six people did not know each other, but they came to know each through common friends. Shetty called his friend Abhishek and had a long discussion with him. He told Abhishek that by the evening of July 26, they should murder someone. They decided to gather more people and weapons,” said Kumar.
“Except for the one person in the group others didn’t know who Fazil was,” said the officer. “They also had alternate targets. The aim was to send a message. We will specify this in the charge sheet,” he added.
On July 27, Shetty met Giridhar at a hotel in Surathkal, where he shared the plan with him and said that he had weapons and needed vehicles and manpower. Giridhar called Mohan who agreed to arrange for a car. “On July 27, Mohan got a car from Ajith Crasta who was assured of ₹15,000 in three days if their plan was successful,” said the commissioner.They did not proceed with the task on July 27 as three of the accused did not turn up for a planned meeting.
“On July 28, Shetty left early in the morning with weapons to Bantwal’s Karinjeshwar temple, while three other accused had to appear in court. They had a discussion near the court where Fazil’s name was finalised as the target” Kumar said.
