The Dakshina Kannada police on Thursday arrested three main accused in the murder of BJP youth leader Praveen Nettaru, who was hacked to death in Bellare on July 26.
The arrested men have been identified as Shiyabuddin(33), a cocoa supplier from Sullia taluk, Riyaz (27), a chicken supplier from Ankathadka and Basheer (29), a hotel worker from Elimale near Subrahmanya. All three are locals and had allegedly committed the murder before fleeing to Kerala. They had used two bikes and four cars to commit the crime.
"The DK police arrested the three accused who were absconding since the day of the crime. The police succeeded in apprehending them at the Talapady check post at 8 am today (Thursday) based on a tip-off. The accused had been in hiding at various places including a mosque at Kasaragod in Kerala. We will produce them before the court and take them into police custody for further investigation," said ADGP Alok Kumar, during a press meet in Mangaluru.
The ADGP has been camping at Mangaluru ever since the district witnessed three murders in one month.
Besides the three main accused, the police have arrested nine others including three women for willfully harbouring the criminals. The police had warned of freezing the properties of the absconders and their aides.
"The accused will be produced before the court and once in police custody, we will probe further to know the motive behind the murder and the involvement of others if any, their affiliation to organisations like PFI and SDPI," said Kumar, adding that once the preliminary investigation is conducted by the local police, the case and details would be handed over to the National Investigation Agency.
Alok Kumar also warned the criminals and fundamentalist elements of stern action and freezing of their assets if they went absconding after committing a crime.
It may be recalled that BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru (32) was hacked to death by bike-borne assailants in Bellare, Dakshina Kannada district on July 26, triggering unrest in the district. It had caused huge embarrassment to the ruling BJP as the BJP party workers had protested against the government for failing to protect their members and Hindutva activists in the state.
