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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will take over the probe into the murder of Suhas Shetty, a former Bajrang Dal leader and the prime accused in the 2022 murder of 23-year-old Mohammed Fazil. Shetty was killed in Mangaluru on May 1 by a group of assailants.
The Mangaluru City Police have so far arrested 11 individuals in connection with the murder.
The decision to hand over the case to the NIA follows repeated demands from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had earlier petitioned Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot. The BJP accused the Congress-led state government of being soft on such incidents and asserted that a central agency like the NIA was necessary to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation.
Suhas’s mother, Sulochana Shetty, had also called for the case to be transferred to the NIA. She had alleged deliberate mishandling of the probe at the state level.
Suhas Shetty was killed near Kinnipadavu Cross within the Bajpe police station limits while travelling with five associates. At around 8.30 pm, their vehicle was intercepted by attackers reportedly using a Swift car and a pickup truck. The assailants used lethal weapons to assault Suhas, inflicting fatal injuries.
Suhas had previously been named the main accused in the murder of Mohammed Fazil, a resident of Mangalapete, who was killed by masked men in Surathkal on July 28, 2022. Fazil’s murder was carried out as retaliation for the killing of BJP Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru two days earlier. According to police at the time, Shetty and five others had planned the attack, aiming to "kill someone" to avenge Praveen’s death.