MANGALURU: Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Friday said it is up to the state government whether to hand over the Suhas Shetty murder case to the National Investigation Authority (NIA) or not, and he has no objection to any probe.
Responding to a media query on the Opposition BJP demanding a NIA probe into the case and criticism of the ongoing probe by the local police, Khader said, “I have already requested the authorities to arrest all the culprits in the case and those involved in assaults after the crime. The accused in the case must be given strict punishment. Nobody has a right to kill anyone.”
Asked about allegations of him influencing the probe and his recent remark that Mohammed Fazil’s family had claimed that they were not involved in the case, Khader said, “There was a tense situation when the murder took place. My priority at that time was to ensure communal harmony in my district. Hence, whatever information I received, I shared it in public.”
He said his intention at that time was that the situation did not get worse. “The police have investigated and arrested whoever was involved in the murder. People of my constituency know me and critics don’t bother me. Such criticism is not new to me. Those who trust me will not take those allegations seriously. All doubts in the murder case must be cleared.”
To a query on the BJP allegations of his links with one Mustafa under whom the accused in the murder case worked and allegations of him attending a cricket tournament organised by Mustafa, Khader said, “I get invitations for weddings, cricket tournaments and local events. But I did not attend this particular cricket tournament as I was busy. Some are politicising the issue.
For me politics is not important, but communal harmony and fraternity in my district is. Our district must get more development work and investments. Nobody should derail development in our district,” he added.
