The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe the murder of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty by a group of assailants in Mangaluru, Karnataka, last month, official sources said on Sunday. The Union Home Ministry has asked the federal anti-terror agency to probe the case related to the "targeted killing" of Shetty "with the intention to create terror in the minds of people", they said.
Citing a home ministry communique in this regard, the sources said the accused involved in the murder case are allegedly members of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a banned outfit.
"The NIA has received an order from the Union Home Ministry to investigate the case. The process to register the case is underway," a source said. The NIA probe is required due to the gravity of the offence, its national ramifications as well as the need to unearth the larger conspiracy, the sources said, citing the home ministry order.
Shetty was killed at Kinnipadavu in Bajpe on the outskirts of Mangaluru on May 1. He was travelling in a vehicle with his associates when five-six assailants, who came in a car and a pick-up vehicle, intercepted him. The assailants attacked Shetty with sharp weapons, causing grievous injuries. He was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries The gruesome attack was captured on a CCTV camera, which showed the assailants attacking him with machetes and swords.
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Shetty was reportedly associated with various local Hindutva groups and had several cases registered against him, including for assault, murder and unlawful assembly, according to the local police.
Karnataka Police on June 3 arrested Abdul Razak (59), a resident of Mangaluru, for allegedly conspiring and sheltering the prime accused in Shetty's murder case. The total number of arrests made in this case stood at 16, police said. According to police, Razak is the father of Mohammed Muzammil, one of the key accused, and the father-in-law of Nausad Vamanjoor alias Chotte Nausad, another suspect in the case.
He allegedly conspired with them and others at his residence to plan the murder and later helped the accused evade arrest, according to the police.
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