The Karnataka police have revealed that Fazil’s brother Adil Mehroof offered Rs 5 lakh to a group of men to carry out the murder of Suhas Shetty, with Rs 3 lakh paid as an advance.
Addressing the media on Saturday, May 3, Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal however claimed that the murder was only partly motivated by ‘revenge’. Police denied a communal angle in it.
Fazil was killed in July 2022, just days after the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru — both incidents that had sparked communal tension in the region. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is currently probing Praveen’s murder and has already arrested 21 of the 25 accused. Coastal Karnataka has a history of cycles of retaliatory attacks on Hindus and Muslims following murders.
Based on forensic analysis of two videos of the killing that had gone viral on social media, police had identified those involved in the killing and had arrested eight people. Two more people, who provided information about Suhas’ movements, had been identified but were yet to be arrested.
Police investigation revealed that the accused tried to eliminate Suhas twice. “But the third time they got exact information about Suhas’ movements, hired two vehicles and chased them. They had chosen the location beforehand,” Commissioner Agrawal said.
The assailants chased Suhas in a car, accosted him and stabbed him to death. He was taken to AJ Shetty Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
The Commissioner said that one Abdul Safwan from Shantigudde village, planned the attack out of fear and revenge. Safwan had reportedly survived a murder attempt by Suhas and his associates, Prashant and Dhanraj, in 2023 — a case registered in Suratkal police station.
“Due to this, Safwan feared that Suhas would kill him. He told his friends, Mohammed Muzammil and Niyaz, about this. Through a common friend, they got in touch with Adil Mehroof and began planning. The amount was fixed for Rs 5 lakh and Adil paid Rs 3 lakh in advance,” Agrawal said.
According to the police, Safwan, Niyaz, Mohammed Muzammil and Kalandar Safi planned the execution of the crime. Niyaz further involved two of his friends Ranjith and Nagaraj from Chikkamagaluru, the Commissioner said. He further disclosed that while Kalandar and Muzamil had some cases registered against them, they were examining if the other suspects had any criminal background.
To a question, Agrawal said that the killing was only partly motivated by ‘revenge’. “Adil’s and Safwan’s intentions matched. You can’t call (the killing) communal,” he said.
He also said that the police were yet to find out the motives of each of the killers. The Commissioner said that so far, the police had found no connection between the accused and the Popular Front of India, a banned organisation.
Meanwhile, in the wake of Suhas Shetty’s murder, the Mangaluru police have registered three cases of stabbings of Muslim men and are yet to identify and arrest the accused, Commissioner Agrawal said.