New Delhi, April 15 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday charge-sheeted four more accused, three of whom are absconding, in the 2022 murder of Praveen Nettaru, BJP Yuva Morcha member from Karnataka, by cadres of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
Nettaru was murdered on July 26, 2022, in Bellare village, Sullia Taluk, located in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. The crime was allegedly orchestrated by cadres and members of the PFI.
In its second supplementary chargesheet, NIA has charged Abdul Nasir, Naushad, Abdul Rahaman and Ateeq Ahmed under relevant sections of IPC and UA (P) Act, 1967, taking the total number of charge-sheeted accused in the case to 27, including six absconders.
Three of the four charge-sheeted on Tuesday are absconding. They have been identified as Abdul Nasir, Naushad and Abdul Rahaman.
As per NIA investigations, the trio had provided shelter to the three main assailants in Mysore and Chamarajanagara districts of Karnataka and Erode district of Tamil Nadu. Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahaman were also involved in harbouring the accused Thufail in Bengaluru.
After the fatal attack on Nettaru, the accused Ateeq and deceased Kalandar had conspired and harboured Mustafa Paichar in Chennai in 2022-23. Accused Abdul Rahaman had escaped to a foreign country and guided accused Riyaz in harbouring Mustafa Paichar subsequently, in 2024.
NIA, which had taken over the probe from the state police, is trying to track down the absconding accused as part of its ongoing investigation in the case.
In December last year, the NIA arrested Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, a fugitive linked to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), in connection with the Nettaru murder.
He was detained upon his arrival from Bahrain at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. A lookout circular had been issued against him following evidence of his involvement in Nettaru’s killing.
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