What Led to the Murder of Suhas Shetty? Accused in Police Custody

Bengaluru, May 5 (NationPress) The eight individuals detained by the Mangaluru Police in relation to the murder case of Hindu activist and notorious rowdy Suhas Shetty (42) have been remanded into police custody until May 9.

The local court in Mangaluru issued this order on Monday after the Bajpe Police presented them to the magistrate.

Suhas Shetty was slain on May 1, prompting demands from the BJP and various Hindu organizations for an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), suspecting that “fundamentalist forces” may be involved in the murder. The police have apprehended eight suspects tied to this heinous act.

According to police sources, there are indications that over 20 individuals might have participated in the crime, and authorities are actively searching for two additional principal suspects.

The investigation has unveiled that the suspects organized a gathering on the night of April 2, where they conspired to execute the murder at a resort situated in Kalasa, Chikkamagaluru.

In the meantime, the Hindu Jagarana Vedike has raised concerns regarding the investigation's management by law enforcement. Vedike leader K.T. Ullas has asserted that unseen forces are behind Suhas Shetty's murder. He claims that over Rs 50 lakh has been allocated to facilitate the murder and has pointed fingers at a head constable from the minority community linked to the Bajpe police station.

Ullas stated that the police's narrative claims Shetty was murdered out of “revenge.” He emphasized that invisible forces are involved, along with the family of a youth who was killed by Shetty. The pattern of this target killing is apparent,” Ullas remarked.

He alleged that the tactics used in Shetty's murder mirrored those typically associated with the PFI model, noting that the assailants appeared unhurried while leaving the scene after the crime.

“Witnesses observed two burqa-clad women in the vicinity assisting the attackers. It appears that individuals present at the crime scene were aware of the murder in advance,” Ullas further alleged.

He also accused the head constable at the Bajpe police station of having “tortured” Suhas Shetty.

“The police had advised Shetty against carrying weapons in his vehicle. There must have been a leak of information from the head constable,” he claimed.

Ullas further contended that the inclusion of two Hindu suspects among the arrested individuals seems deliberate, potentially to hinder the case from being transferred to the NIA.

Law enforcement officials revealed that the investigation indicates that the murder was executed as a retribution for the death of Mohammad Fazil, who was reportedly killed by Shetty in 2022.

Suhas Shetty, a former Bajrang Dal activist, was fatally attacked on May 1. He was the principal suspect in the murder of Mohammad Fazil, a Surathkal resident. Shetty and his associates allegedly murdered Fazil in a public location on July 28, 2022, purportedly in retaliation for the killing of BJP youth worker Praveen Kumar Nettaru.

Nettaru, also a BJP activist, was brutally killed amidst the escalating Hijab controversy, which incited a series of retaliatory murders and numerous stabbing incidents throughout Karnataka. At the time of his death, Shetty had recently been released on bail.

In a media briefing last Saturday, Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal stated that Fazil’s brother, Adil Meharuf, orchestrated the plot to murder Suhas Shetty and had financed the operation.

The detainees have been identified as Abdul Safwan (29), a driver; Niyaz (28); Kalandar Shafi (31); Mohammad Muzammil (32), a Dubai-based salesman; Ranjith (19); Nagaraj (20); Mohammad Rizwan (28); and Adil Meharuf.