BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a key accused, Ateeq Ahmed, in the Praveen Nettaru murder case. “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, by members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in July 2022,” the NIA stated in a release.
“Ateeq had, under the PFI leadership’s guidance, harboured and assisted Mustafa Paichar, the chief conspirator in the case. The latter had planned and executed the murder, carried out as part of the PFI agenda to trigger fear and communal unrest among the people,” the NIA added.
According to the central counter-terrorism agency, Mustafa had absconded after the murder 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 local police in August 2022, had found during 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.