Karnataka: BJP youth wing worker hacked to death in Dakshina Kannada district
A tense situation prevailed in Bellare village in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district after a BJP youth wing worker was hacked to death by two men at around 9.30 pm on Tuesday (July 27).
According to the police, the deceased has been identified as a poultry shop owner Praveen Nettaru, who is a BJP Yuva Morcha worker. As a tense situation prevailed the police had to shut down all the shops, establishments, and hotels in the area.
Meanwhile, reacting to the BJP worker’s murder, Karnataka home minister, Araga Jnanendra said that the police are searching to nab the accused. “It’s suspected that the accused have run away to Kerala, but we’re in touch with police there. Probe to reveal if the murder was politically motivated or other reasons behind it,” he said. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai too condemned Praveen’s killing and said that the accused would be arrested soon.
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News reports quoting the police stated that Praveen saw two men on a Kerala-registered motorcycle coming towards him as he was shutting his shop. Realising their intention to attack him, he ran towards a neighbouring shop to escape them. However, they hit Praveen on his head with a machete before fleeing the spot. Praveen was shifted to a private hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called for bandh in Kadaba, Suliya, and Puttur to protest Nettaru’s killing. Several Hindutva organisations also launched demonstrations against the murder, and a number of activists from these groups staged a protest in front of the hospital where the body was kept.
The police suspect that this murder is an act of revenge. A 19-year-old Muslim painter, Masud, who was living with his grandmother in Kelanje, was hacked to death recently over an issue. Praveen has been reportedly murdered as an act of retaliation to that killing, the police said. At that time, the police had arrested eight people belonging to right-wing groups in connection with Masud’s killing.
