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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the 21st accused in the brutal killing of BJP leader Praveen Nettaru in Bellare village of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka by members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in July 2022.
The arrested accused has been identified as Ateeq Ahmed, a key accused in the case. Under the PFI leadership's guidance, the NIA said, Ateeq had harboured and assisted Mustafa Paichar, identified as the chief conspirator in the case. Mustafa had planned and executed the murder, carried out as part of the PFI agenda to trigger fear and communal unrest among the people. "After the attack, Mustafa had absconded and Ateeq had facilitated his movement, including transporting him to Chennai. He had helped Mustafa evade law enforcement till the latter's arrest in May 2024," said the NIA. NIA, which had taken over the case from the local police in August 2022, had found during the investigation that PFI had formed secret teams, referred to as "PFI Service Teams" and trained in arms and surveillance, to carry out targeted killings such as that of Nettaru. Earlier on December 24, NIA arrested an absconding member of the banned PFI in BJP leader Praveen Nettaru's murder case in Kerala. As per NIA investigations, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif was the PFI State Executive Committee member and head of the outfit's service team. Kodaje, along with the co-accused, was involved in imparting arms training to the service team members in the Freedom Community Hall, Mittur. Kodaje was also responsible for conveying the instructions for targeted killing after a discussion at the state executive committee of PFI, said the agency. "It was on these instructions that accused Mustafa Paichar and his team had brutally hacked Praveen Nettaru to death," it said. "The conspiracy was aimed at spreading terror and communal hatred and unrest in the society," added the NIA. (ANI)
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