Mangaluru (Karnataka), May 3 Karnataka Police have detained eight suspects in connection with the murder of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty, which was reported from the communally-sensitive city of Mangaluru, officials said on Saturday.
Police sources stated that the department is likely to formalise the arrests and make an official announcement later on Saturday.
The police had formed five special teams to apprehend the killers. All the accused are being interrogated, and they were arrested from various locations within Mangaluru district. Investigators have obtained video footage of the incident, which helped in identifying and apprehending the suspects, sources said.
However, Leader of the Opposition (LoP), R. Ashoka, alleged that a week before the murder, Suhas Shetty was warned by police not to carry weapons in his vehicle, and his vehicle was searched.
“How did this message reach the killers? If he had a weapon, he might have survived. The murder took place within half a kilometre of a police presence, yet no officer rushed to the spot,” Ashoka stated.
“A week before, the killers had put up a message saying Suhas Shetty will be finished. After the murder they had put up another message celebrating the murder,” he said.
Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje and Mangaluru BJP MP Captain Brijesh Chowta have appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to transfer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra has announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for Suhas Shetty’s family.
BJP MLC C.T. Ravi and other party leaders warned that if police fail to act, revenge killings will continue in Mangaluru. “There is no one who has the mindset to let Suhas’ murderers go free,” Ravi said.
Multiple stabbing incidents have been reported from the Mangaluru and Udupi districts in the coastal Karnataka region following Shetty’s murder, and the situation remains tense and volatile.
Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara is visiting Mangaluru on Saturday to assess the situation and review the law and order situation. He is expected to hold a meeting with senior officers at the Mangaluru Police Commissionerate.
According to the investigation, the accused first rammed a goods vehicle into the car in which Suhas Shetty was travelling. Then, a gang of assailants, who were following in a Swift car, emerged with weapons and brutally hacked him to death.
LoP R. Ashoka alleged that members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity were responsible for Shetty’s murder.
Suhas Shetty was a Bajrang Dal activist and the prime accused in the murder of Mohammad Fazil, a resident of Surathkal. Shetty and his associates allegedly killed Fazil in a public place on July 28, 2022, in retaliation for the murder of BJP youth worker Praveen Kumar Nettaru.
Nettaru, a BJP activist from the same communally sensitive region, was hacked to death during the height of the ‘hijab’ row. His murder had triggered a series of revenge killings and multiple stabbing incidents across Karnataka.
Mangaluru also recently witnessed the mob lynching of a man from Kerala, identified as Mohammad Ashraf, who was allegedly heard shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” during a cricket tournament.
Police are currently investigating whether there is any connection between the murder of Suhas Shetty and the recent lynching incident.
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