Mangaluru: Karnataka Police have detained eight suspects in connection with the murder of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty in Mangaluru, a city known for its communal sensitivities, officials confirmed on Saturday.
Police sources stated that the department is likely to formalise the arrests and make an official announcement later on Saturday.
To track down the perpetrators, authorities had assembled five special teams. All suspects apprehended from various locations within the Mangaluru district are currently being interrogated. Investigators utilised video footage of the incident to identify and capture the accused, sources revealed.
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 urged 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 cautioned that if the police fail to take decisive action, revenge killings may persist in Mangaluru. "There is no one who has the mindset to let Suhas’ murderers go free," Ravi stated.
Following Shetty’s murder, multiple stabbing incidents have been reported in the Mangaluru and Udupi districts, leaving the situation tense and volatile.
Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara is set to visit Mangaluru on Saturday to evaluate the situation and review law and order. He is expected to hold discussions with senior officers at the Mangaluru Police Commissionerate.
Investigations reveal that the accused first rammed a goods vehicle into the car carrying Suhas Shetty. Following this, a group of assailants in a Swift car emerged with weapons and brutally attacked him.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka has 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, a Bajrang Dal activist, was 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, an event that sparked a series of revenge killings and multiple stabbing incidents across Karnataka.
(inputs from IANS)