1 more suspect in Bajrang Dal activist's murder case arrested

Immigration officials detain the accused at Mumbai airport

The immigration officials at Chatrapathi Shivaji International Airport (Mumbai), detained on Friday night, one of the accused in the murder case of Bajrang Dal activist Prashanth Poojary in Moodbidri on October 9, said ADGP Alok Mohan.

Briefing reporters here on Saturday, the  ADGP said that the Mangaluru City Police Commissionerate had issued look out circular to all the airports in the country to ensure that the accused does not escape from the country.

“The arrested, identified as Mohammed Imthiyaz Gantalkatte (40), was planning to fly to Dubai when the immigration officials detained him. A team of police officers have left for Mumbai to bring him to the city. With the arrest of Imthiyaz, the police have arrested nine persons so far in connection with the murder. The police are looking out for a few more persons who were part of the conspiracy,” he stated.

To a query on demand for ban on PFI, he said “The police are collecting details of the incident. Depending on the evidence, we will decide the future course of action,” he said.
Lauding the efforts of Mangaluru city police, he clarified that the police did not work under any pressure.

“The probe was impartial. There is a procedure and cases like this (Moodbidri incident) are monitored at the level of DGP, ADGP, Commissioner and the respective DCPs. We will not allow the criminals to escape. A criminal is a criminal. Criminals have no caste or community,” he added.

The police had arrested four persons including three co-conspirators on October 18 and another four persons on Oct 20.

Monitoring social media
To a query on monitoring the malicious and inflammatory contents on social media including WhatsApp and Facebook,  he said that the police are monitoring and will take action as per the law.

“The police will examine the threat messages to the BJP leaders of Moodbdiri on social media,” he stated.

“We have to fight anti-social elements together. When the citizens get malicious messages aimed at spreading hatred among communities on social media, they can bring it to the notice of the police officers. The police are committed to ensuring safety of citizens,” the ADGP added.

On the challenges of monitoring social media content, he said the Facebook pages are opened and deactivated within a few hours. Despite, challenges involved, the police have acted and arrested in the cases reported in Bhatkal, Bantwal and in Mangaluru.