The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR with regard to the death of Paresh Mesta.
The FIR was registered on April 23, four months after the 18-year-old was found dead at Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district.
Paresh Mesta's body was found in the Shettikere lake on December 8.
Following his death, protests and violence erupted in the area with the Bharatiya Janata Party alleging that Paresh was murdered. Word had spread through the coastal district that he was allegedly tortured before his death. A picture of Mesta's blackened face was widely circulated around the time.
The rumours were also supported by BJP leaders including Shobha Karandlaje who demanded a National Investigation Agency probe into the incident and backed the allegations that Mesta was tortured before his death.
However, Forensic Science experts from Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, who conducted the post-mortem, refuted the rumours and released a detailed memorandum stating that his blackened face was only due to putrefaction (decay).
An FIR was initially registered at the Honnavar police station two days after Paresh’s body was found. The case, which has now been transferred over to the CBI, will be probed once again and the investigative body has taken cognisance of the original FIR.
The original FIR stated that the members of one community suddenly started pelting stones and "by using deadly weapons such as iron rod, sword, sickle went on damaging temple, shops, tempos and assaulting public and at this time, they brutally killed Paresh Mesta…”
It also stated that the body was later thrown into the Shettikere lake to destroy evidence of the crime.
As per The Hindu, the case has been registered under IPC sections 143, 147 148 , 302, 201 , 149 and 120 B , against the accused: Azad Annigeri, Ashif Rafiq, Mahamad Faisal, Imtiyaz Gani, and Salim.