The son of a former employee at a chicken store run by murdered BJP youth worker Praveen Nettaru and the owner of a fast food centre in the region are the two men who were arrested by the Dakshina Kannada police for the murder of the 32-year-old BJP Yuva Morcha worker in Bellare on Tuesday night. Both were involved in Popular Front of India (PFI) activities, police have said.
The police have identified Mohammed Shafiq, 27, who was a PFI leader in Bellare, and Zakir A, 29, the owner of a fast food centre in nearby Savanoor, who is also a PFI activist, as the possible providers of local logistical support, like identification of the victim and his location for the murder.
“We have arrested Zakir, a resident of Savanoor, and Mohammed Shafiq of Bellare. The probe is still underway,” the Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police (SP) Rishikesh Sonawane said Thursday.
Shafiq, who lived in Bellare, knew Nettaru on a personal basis as his father used to work at Nettaru’s chicken store over the past year, Shafiq’s family said on Thursday. Shafiq’s father was employed at Nettaru’s Akshaya Chicken Centre until a few months ago but quit to join another chicken centre, Shafiq’s father and wife said at Bellare.
Zakir A alias Jakeer operated a small eatery in Savanoor and was accused in an assault case that occurred at the eatery in January 2020. According to the police case, Zakir allegedly assaulted two people at the eatery, including the cashier, over a minor issue of the cashier dropping a plate of food.
Shafiq and Zakir were arrested following an analysis of CCTV footage around the location of the murder and after police gathered information that some suspects were seen hanging around the vicinity of Nettaru’s chicken store for over half an hour prior to the crime. Police are working on the theory that locals in the Bellare region assisted those who came from outside to carry out the murder of the BJP youth worker.
Police are also working on a theory that the murder of the BJP worker was a random act of vengeance for the July 19 assault and murder of an 18-year-old youth from Kasaragod in Kerala, Masood B, who was living in Bellare with his grandfather. The youth, who was living away from home on account of a broken family in Kasaragod, was assaulted by a group of eight youths, including a few Bajrang Dal activists in the aftermath of a trivial fight at a local store. He died on July 21.
“We have to confirm if the murder of the BJP youth leader is linked to the death of the 18-year-old a few days earlier,” a senior Karnataka police officer said.