The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted extensive searches at the houses of three absconding suspects in the case related to the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru by Popular Front of India (PFI) at Bellare in Dakshina Kannada on July 26, 2022.
Searches were conducted in three locations in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada. A press release from NIA said that NIA personnel seized several electronic gadgets and documents during the searches at the houses of Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahaman in Kodagu district and Naushad in Dakshina Kannada district.
All three are suspected of harbouring the main assailants of Parveen Nettaru at various hideouts across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Besides the three absconding suspects, five more suspects in the case are also absconding.
After the murder of Praveen Nettaru, the state government handed over the case to the NIA in August 2022.
A total of 21 persons, including those absconding, have so far been charge-sheeted by NIA under various sections of the UA(P) Act, IPC and Arms Act.
Nettaru was hacked to death on July 26, 2022, in Bellare village of Sullia Taluk at Dakshina Kannada district by PFI ‘Killer Squads’ or ‘Service Teams’.
Efforts are on to track down the absconding suspects.