BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Home Minister Araga Jnanendra have been holding a series of meetings over the past few days with the home secretary, DGP and with other top brass of home and police departments to ensure that the murders of B Mahsood, Pravin Nettaru and Mohammed Fazil in coastal Karnataka do not lead to more “tit-for-tat” bloodbath, as has been warned by some police officers.
The police officers have apprised Bommai and Jnanendra that these killings seem to be unrelated and for revenge. The police have increased security along the coast and other sensitive locations in neighbouring areas. CCTVs, electronic surveillance and other measures, apart from traditional policing, are being used to keep a tight vigil.
Bommai and Jnanendra have been monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis as the police are detaining dozens of people and questioning them. Jnanendra told TNIE, “We are not addressing the issue superficially, but getting to the root of it. The police are taking great care even during the detention of suspects and separate enclosures have been created.”
Phone calls, social media under lens
ON tension in communally sensitive areas, he said, “We will bring the situation under control.” While sources said the police have interrogated several cadres of suspect organisations from both Hindu and Muslim organisations, Jnanendra said some of them have “extreme” views.
The police said they have collected clues of all those who committed the murders and their accomplices. No one will be spared, they added. Phone calls and messages, and social media posts are being monitored to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand, home department sources said.
In Masood’s murder case, eight people were arrested and released on bail. They have been given protection, considering that their names are on the hit lists of opponent groups, the sources said. Movements of some violent elements and their support groups too are being closely watched, they added.