These details were revealed by the National Investigation Agency in a charge sheet submitted on Friday to a Bengaluru special court regarding the murder of Praveen Nettaru, a member of the Yuva Morcha district committee for the Bharatiya Janata Party, on July 26, 2017, in Bellare village of Sullia Taluk in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district.
A lethal weapon was used to murder Nettaru in full view of the public in order to instil fear in both the general populace and in particular the members of a specific community.
The charge sheet, which was filed against 20 PFI members, further mentions that “these ‘Service Team’ members were given arms as well attack training and surveillance techniques training in order to identify, list out and to mount surveillance on individuals and leaders belonging to certain communities and groups.”
“These ‘Service Team’ members were further trained to assault and kill identified targets on the instructions of senior PFI leaders,” said the NIA in the charge sheet. In furtherance of conspiracy meetings by PFI members and leaders held at Bengaluru city, Sullia Town and Bellare village, said the charge sheet, adding “the head of district Service Team Mustafa Paichar was instructed to recce, identify and target a prominent member of a particular community.”
“As per instructions, four persons were recced and identified and among them, Praveen Nettaru, who was a BJP Yuva Morcha member, was assaulted and killed on July 26 last year in full public view with lethal weapons to create terror among the people at large and especially among members of a particular community,” mentions the charge-sheet.
Six of the 20 PFI members named in the chargesheet are missing, and rewards have been offered for information that results in their capture. The Indian Penal Code’s sections 120B, 153A, 302, and 34, as well as sections 16, 18, and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 and Section 25(1)(a) of the Arms Act, have all been used to charge the accused.
Mahammed Shiyab, Abdul Basheer, Riyaz, Mustafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik, Noufal M, Ismail Shafi K, K Mahammad Iqbal, Shaheed M, Mahammad Shafeek G, Ummar Farook M R, Abdul Kabeer CA, Muhammad Ibrahim Sha, Sainul Abid Y, Shekh Saddam Hussain, Zakiar A, N Abdul Haris, Thufail MH have been charge-sheeted in the case.
Mustafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik, Ummar Farook MR, and Thufail MH are among the charge-sheeted defendants who are currently evading capture; rewards have been offered for information that results in their capture.
The case was re-registered by the NIA on August 4 of last year after being initially registered on July 27 by the Bellare Police Station in the Dakshina Kannada district. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, of 1967 was invoked by the Home Ministry in September to impose a five-year ban on the PFI, its partners, and affiliates.
Besides involvement in Nettaru’s murder, the PFI cadres are also accused of involvement in several terrorist acts and the murder of several persons, including Sanjith (Kerala, November 2021), V Ramalingam (Tamil Nadu, 2019), Nandu (Kerala, 2021), Abhimanyu (Kerala, 2018), Bibin (Kerala, 2017), Sharath (Kamataka, 2017), R Rudresh (Kamataka, 2016), Praveen Puyari (Karnataka, 2016), and Sasi Kumar (Tamil Nadu, 2016).
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