Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the killers of BJP Yuva Morcha office-bearer Praveen Nettar in Dakshina Kannada will be nabbed soon, while condemning the murder that has sparked outrage among Hindu nationalists in the communally-sensitive region.
Nettar was hacked to death in front of his shop in Bellare by bike-borne miscreants on Tuesday night.
This happened a week after 19-year-old Mohammed Mashood died following an assault by eight men in Kalanja in Sullia taluk. His demise led to tension in the area.
“The police have swung into action. They're trying to identify the culprits. Very soon they'll be nabbed,” Bommai told reporters, adding that the government has taken Nettar’s killing “very seriously”.
Hinting at the possibility of the killers having escaped to Kerala, Bommai said the Karnataka police are in touch with their Kerala counterparts. “Since it is close to the Kerala border, the SP Mangaluru has spoken to SP Kasaragod. I had my DG speak to the DG of Kerala,” Bommai said.
Bommai said Nettar’s killing appeared “very pre-planned” and that there were similarities with other cases from the past. “We’re studying the whole thing in its entirety and we’ll get to the root of it,” he said.
He said Nettar’s killing could have been a retaliation to the crackdown of the BJP government on some elements. “This is a planned conspiracy to create disturbance. We’ve taken measures against such elements. As a reaction, they’re doing all this. We will beat them,” Bommai said.
Reacting to outrage over the killing, Bommai said: “Naturally, when an innocent is killed, there will be outrage. I’ve asked them to maintain peace.”
Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said a senior ADGP rank official will go to Mangaluru and monitor the probe. Efforts are also on to maintain peace and order, Jnanendra said.