NIA registers FIR in Karnataka BJP youth leader murder case

Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death by three men at Bellare village on the night of July 26.

Motorcycle-borne assailants attacked the BJP youth leader as he was leaving his poultry store. (File)The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which was ordered on Wednesday by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to investigate the murder of a BJP youth leader in the Bellare area of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, has registered an FIR in the case in New Delhi.

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The case will be investigated by a newly created Bengaluru unit of the NIA, police sources said. The case, registered by an NIA police station in New Delhi this week, will be transferred to a court in Bengaluru.

Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death by three men at Bellare village on the night of July 26. The motorcycle-borne assailants attacked the BJP youth leader as he was leaving his poultry store.
Police in Bellare had registered an FIR in the early hours of July 27, but the BJP government in Karnataka decided on July 29 to hand over the investigation to the NIA. The state government subsequently wrote to the MHA.
The investigation by the Karnataka Police has led to the arrest of four people — Mohammed Shafiq, Zakir Savanoor, Saddam and Harris — who were all residents of the Dakshina Kannada region. They are alleged to have provided logistical support, including shelter and food, for the main attackers who are yet to be arrested.
In its order to the NIA, the MHA noted that “local police arrested four accused persons and further investigation in the case has revealed that the accused conspired to do this act with the intent to strike terror among the people of the locality”.
The order also said that Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (relating to acts of terror) and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (for criminal conspiracy) has been invoked in the case by the Karnataka Police.

According to the order, the central government is of the view that a scheduled offence under the National Investigation Agency Act of 2008 was committed in the case, and “having regard to the gravity of the offence and its inter-state ramifications, it is required to be investigated by the NIA in accordance with the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008”.
The decision came even as police have claimed to have identified the killers, who they say are on the run.
The Karnataka Police will continue to investigate the murder as the NIA begins its formal takeover of the case in order to prevent a loss of momentum in the probe, senior police officials have said.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said on Saturday that the state police have gathered information that the murder was executed by people from the Dakshina Kannada region who are affiliated with a radical outfit.
“The information that we have is that the murder of Praveen Nettaru was carried out by people who are locals of the Mangaluru region. Police are investigating their affiliations and all efforts are on to arrest the accused,” the Jnanendra said.

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