Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday that his government is ready to hand over the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha office-bearer Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The incident has sparked outrage among Hindu nationalists in the communally-sensitive region.
Asserting that the government has taken the case “very seriously”, Bommai said Praveen’s killers will be nabbed soon.
“We will not hesitate to hand over the case to the NIA. But doing that will require a preliminary probe by the police,” Bommai said.
Praveen was allegedly 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 death led to tension in the area.
Hinting at the possibility of Praveen’s 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 Mangaluru SP has spoken to SP Kasaragod. I had my DG speak to the DG of Kerala,” Bommai said.
Bommai said Praveen’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 go to the root of it,” he said.
He said Praveen’s murder 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.