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 Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) member Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada district last year.
Three locations were searched in Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu as part of NIA’s efforts to hunt down the absconders.
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.
Nettaru was murdered on July 26 last year in Bellare village in Dakshina Kannada district in full public view. The Popular Front of India (PFI)’s “Killer Squads” or “Service Teams” are accused of hacking Nettaru to death.
"All three are suspected of harbouring the main assailants of Parveen Nettaru at various hideouts across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu State. Besides the trio, five other accused are still absconding in the case, which NIA had taken over in August 2022." NIA said in a statement on Wednesday.
A total of 21 persons, including the absconders, have so far been charge sheeted by NIA under various sections of UA(P) Act, IPC and Arms Act.
NIA, in the statement, said PFI has been indulging in such targeted ‘hate killings’ with the aim of driving a communal wedge and spreading communal hatred with its ultimate objective of establishing an Islamic Rule in India by 2047. "Efforts to track down the absconding accused are continuing", it further added.