MANGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted extensive searches at the houses of three absconding suspects in the case related to the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru allegedly by cadres of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Dakshina Kannada last year.
Three locations were searched in Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts. A release from NIA said they seized several electronic gadgets and documents during the searches at the houses of Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahaman in Kodagu district and Naushad in Dakshina Kannada district.
All three are suspected of harbouring the main assailants of Nettaru at various hideouts across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Besides the trio, five other accused are still absconding. The case was taken over by the NIA in August 2022. A total of 21 persons, including the absconders, have so far been charge-sheeted by NIA under various sections of the UA (P) Act, IPC and Arms Act.
Nettaru was hacked to death on July 26, 2022, in Bellare village of Sullia Taluk in Dakshina Kannada by PFI ‘Killer Squads’ or ‘Service Teams’, stated the NIA release. Efforts to track down the absconding accused are continuing, it further added.