'Youths wrongly held for Poojary murder must be compensated'

"Innocent youths were arrested and framed for the murder of Bajrang Dal leader Rajesh Poojary. The youths lost their livelihood following the charge sheet. They should now be compensated by the state government," DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla said.

He spoke to reporters at a press conference where all those who were acquitted on charges of murder, Hussain Mallur, Mohammed Irshad and Imran, were present. He said, "We have been claiming that Hussain, Imran and Irshad were not genuine suspects. This has been upheld by the court. The three arrested ended up spending months in prison."

The police had framed Hussain who was engaged in selling phenyl, while Irshan and Imran were daily wage labourers. Till date, the actual murderers of Rajesh Poojary have not been traced and Poojary's family is still waiting for justice, Katipalla said.

He urged the authorities to constitute a high-level team to probe into the case once again. Strict action should be initiated against those who had arrested innocents, he said.