Praveen Nettaru murder: NIA arrests suspect who harboured chief conspirator

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday announced the arrest of a key accused who allegedly sheltered the chief conspirator in the Praveen Nettaru murder case.

Ateeq Ahmed is the 21st accused to be arrested in the case relating to the brutal killing of Nettaruin Bellare village of Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka, by members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in July 2022, the agency said.

"Ateeq had, under the PFI leadership’s guidance, harboured and assisted Mustafa Paichar, identified as the chief conspirator in the case. Mustafa had planned and executed the murder, carried out as a part of the PFI agenda to trigger fear and communal unrest among the people," the Central agency said.

"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," it added.

NIA, which had taken over the case from the local police in August 2022, had found during 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.