MANGALURU: Suspecting the role of banned Popular Front of India (PFI) behind the murder of Hindu activist and rowdy-sheeter Suhas Shetty, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Hindu Jagran Vedike (HJV) on Monday reiterated their demand for an NIA probe into the case.
At a press conference, HJV prantha pramukh KT Ullas and VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell claimed that there are a lot of similarities in the modus operandi of the murders carried out by PFI and that of Shetty, and it does not appear he was killed to avenge Mohammed Fazil’s murder.
“There is some big force and funding behind it. We strongly suspect the role of PFI behind this targeted killing,” Ullas said.
Comparing the murders of BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru and Shetty, he said the former was killed a few days after the murder of Masood B just like Shetty’s murder after Ashraf’s killing in Kudupu.
The CCTV footage shows that the assailants were not in a hurry and the way the locals behaved indicates that it was a planned murder, he said.
Ullas suspected the role of Mustafa and Kabir, accused in the Prashant Poojary murder case, in Shetty’s murder and Naushad, an accused in the Sukhananda Shetty murder case, in funding the murder. Safwan, an accused in the Shetty murder case, was a tenant in the house of Ismail Engineer, a PFI member, he alleged.
He suspected the involvement of Rashid, a constable attached to the Bajpe police station, in tipping off the assailants about Shetty’s movements. “Shetty’s friends and mother told us that he was harassed by Rashid with repeated phone calls. Three days before the murder, the ACP told Shetty not to carry tools in his vehicle. How did the assailants know that he was unarmed? We suspect that Rashid might have informed the assailants,” alleged Ullas.
Stating that Rajit and Nagaraj from Kalasa, other accused in the Shetty murder case, have no criminal antecedents, Ullal suspected that they might have been intentionally linked to the case just because they are Hindus. “There is a report that after the PFI ban, they decided to involve Hindus in targeted killings,” he said.
Responding to Home Minister G Parameshwara’s statement that the state police are competent enough to probe the case, Ullas said they have no doubt about the efficiency of the state police, but they don’t trust that a fair probe can take place under the present government.