Praveen Kumar Nettaru was a BJP worker from Karnataka’s communally sensitive Mangaluru district. Praveen was hacked to death at the height of the hijab crisis. The incident had taken place in Bellare near Sullia in Dakshina Kannada district. The development had led to revenge killings and a series of stabbing incidents in the state.

NIA release stated, “Ateeq Ahmed is the 21st accused to be arrested in the case relating to the brutal killing of Nettaru in Bellare village of Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka, by members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in July 2022.”

Ateeq had, under the PFI leadership’s guidance, harboured and assisted Mustafa Paichar, identified as the chief conspirator in the case. Mustafa had planned and executed the murder, carried out as part of the PFI agenda to trigger fear and communal unrest among the people.

After the attack, Mustafa had absconded and Ateeq had facilitated his movement, including transporting him to Chennai. He had helped Mustafa evade law enforcement till the latter’s arrest in May 2024.

NIA, which had taken over the case from the local police in August 2022, had found during the investigation that PFI had formed secret teams, referred to as “PFI Service Teams” and trained in arms and surveillance, to carry out targeted killings such as that of Nettaru.

The agency is continuing with its investigation to trace the remaining six accused, against whom rewards have been announced, the release stated.

The probe had also revealed that the assailants targeted Praveen to avenge the death of a Muslim youth, killed in a road rage case.

NIA, which is probing Praveen Kumar Nettare's murder case, had submitted a charge sheet against 20 accused persons to the NIA Special court in Bengaluru. The NIA had submitted 1,500 pages of the charge sheet, including statements of 240 witnesses.

The move of the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) to announce the ticket for Shafi Bellare, an accused in the murder case of Praveen Kumar Nettare to contest assembly elections in Karnataka had stirred a debate. He contested from the jail and lost the deposit in the elections.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS