Representative image of an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Mangaluru: Mulki police have arrested two accused, who had been absconding for nearly 26 years, in connection with a communal riot case reported in Mulki.
According to Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy CH, a riot had broken out on December 31, 1998, in Haleangadi within Mulki Police Station limits, during which violence was reported. A case was registered in Mulki Police Station under IPC Sections 143, 147, 148, 436, 427 read with 149. Among the accused, Leeladhar and Chandrahass Keshava Shetty had been evading arrest since the incident, and their names were included in the charge sheet by the then investigating officers as absconding accused.
The CJ & JMFC Court, Moodbidri, had later declared the case a long-pending one as the accused failed to appear before the court for trial.
Recently, acting on credible information, Mulki police arrested Leeladhar (52), son of Kukra Salian, a resident of Pakshikere Kemral village, Mulki taluk, who had returned to his native and was living in a rented house. He was produced before the court and has been remanded in judicial custody.
Similarly, another accused in the same case, Chandrahass Keshava Shetty (59), son of Keshava Das Shetty of Padupanambur, Haleangadi, Mangaluru, who had been living abroad, was detained at Mumbai Airport. He too was produced before the court and has been remanded in judicial custody.
Since both accused had failed to comply with court orders and remained in hiding for over two decades, fresh cases have been registered against them under Sections 208 and 209 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).