Eight arrested over murder of right-wing activist in K’taka
Shetty, who was hacked to death in Mangaluru on May 1, was named as the prime accused in the murder of Mohammed Fazil (23), a temporary worker at HPCL
Eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder of right-wing activist Suhas Shetty in Mangaluru earlier this week, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said on Saturday.
The development comes a day after prohibitory orders were issued for parts of coastal Karnataka amid concerns that the murder could stoke communal clashes.
Shetty, who was hacked to death in Mangaluru on May 1, was named as the prime accused in the murder of Mohammed Fazil (23), a temporary worker at HPCL. Fazil was killed just two days after BJP youth worker Praveen Nettaru was murdered, igniting protests and unrest across the region.
While the motive behind Shetty’s murder is yet to be ascertained, a senior intelligence officer suggested a possible retaliatory angle triggered by the recent killing of a Muslim man, who was beaten to death during a cricket match in Kudupu on April 27.
Addressing the media, Parameshwara said that police also prevented communal tensions from escalating in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in the wake of the killing. Shetty was hacked to death near Kinnipadavu in Bajpe area of Mangaluru on Thursday night.
“Around eight people involved in the murder of Suhas Shetty have been arrested. For many years, the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have drawn the attention of the state and the nation due to incidents rooted in communal tensions. This time, too, after the incident, it was feared that communal tensions would resurface, but the police did not allow that to happen,” Parameshwara said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Abdul Safwan (29), Niyaz (28), Mohammed Muzammil (32), Kalandar Shafi (31), Adil Mehroof (27), Nagaraj (20), Mohammed Rizwan (28), and Ranjith (19).
City police commissioner Anupam Agrawal said Safwan was attacked by Shetty’s associates in 2023. “Safwan feared that Shetty might kill him. He recently contacted Adil, the brother of Mohammed Fazil,” the officer said.
Shetty is the prime accused in the murder of 23-year-old Fazil, a temporary worker at HPCL, who was killed on July 28, 2022 in Surathkal. “Adil agreed to pay ₹5 lakh to Safwan for Shetty’s murder and had already given him ₹3 lakh.”
Parameshwara said that Mangaluru is a “communally sensitive area”, with recent incidents including Shetty’s murder and the killing of a Muslim man who was beaten to death during a cricket match in Kudupu on April 27 triggering tensions in the region.
The minister said that the state will not tolerate any kind of communal forces, saying the Congress government will form an anti-communal task force to monitor such activities.
“We will not tolerate any kind of communal forces. Our government is committed to maintaining peace in the area. We are actively investigating these incidents,” he said. “We will establish an anti-communal task force similar to our anti-Naxal force. This will be a separate wing with comprehensive authority to address communal activities and those who support them.”
Parameshwara said the task force will operate separately in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. “We are forming an anti-communal task force in both districts to ensure such incidents do not happen again,” he said. “The soon-to-be-formed Anti-Communal Task Force will investigate past communal riots. Going forward, the police will take strict action against those who make provocative statements. No matter how influential a person is, the police will take action. Even if they are political leaders, action will be taken against them.”
BJP MLA demands resignation of speaker
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Y Bharath Shetty accused assembly speaker UT Khader of misleading the investigation, and demanded his resignation fro his post. He said, “Why did speaker Khader say that Mohammed Fazil’s family is not involved in this act?”
“Home minister G Parameshwara and police commissioner Anupam Agrawal said at a press conference that Adil Mehroof, the brother of the murdered Mohammed Fazil, is the prime accused in the Suhas murder case. By saying that Fazil’s family has no role in this case, the assembly speaker has attempted to mislead the investigation,” Bharath Shetty said.
“Khader himself has stated to the media that he spoke with Fazil’s brother. How did Khader speak with him when he is in the police custody? How did the police allow him to speak with the accused? Suspicion arises whether he is interfering with the case to protect the accused and attempting to divert the investigation. To conduct an impartial investigation, it is necessary for the speaker to resign. Therefore, he should resign from his post and uphold the dignity of the speaker’s chair in the assembly,” he said.
