Yuva Morcha leader hacked to death, Janotsava cancelled

NT Correspondent
Mangaluru

A day before the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government's first anniversary celebration, tension gripped Dakshina Kannada district on Wednesday in the wake of the murder of the party's youth wing leader by unidenitied motorcycle-borne assailants.

Praveen Nettaru, 32, who was a district executive committee member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), was hacked to death when he was heading home after closing his poultry shop late on Tuesday. Though he tried to escape, he fell down after the attackers hit his head.

Police personnel, who reached the spot after being alerted by local residents, took Praveen to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. To protest the murder, Hindutva groups observed a bandh in Puttur, Sullia and Kadaba taluks on Wednesday.

A ban on public gatherings under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which was imposed on Wednesday, will continue till Thursday. Four police teams have been constituted to nab the assailants. The police are probing allegations that the assailants’ bike had a Kerala registration number plate. The murder came a week after the killing of one Masood by a gang of Bajrang Dal workers on July 19 in Kalanja village. All the eight accused are in police custody.

Katil, Sunil Kumar gheraoed

Sangh Parivar workers took Praveen's body in a rally in an ambulance to Nettare. Police resorted to a lathicharge when the irate workers gathered at Bellare police station and shouted 'we want justice' slogans.

The Sangh workers even vent their anger on BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister V Sunil Kumar who were heading to Praveen's home. They gheraoed the car in which they were travelling and shouted 'down down BJP'.

Late on Wednesday evening, a few BJP leaders, including Preetham Hebbar, Yuva Morcha spokesperson in Chikkamagaluru district and his Tumkuru district counterpart Shakunthala Nataraj, announced their resignation from their party posts in protest against the murder.