Eight Arrested Over Murder of Right-Wing Activist in K'taka

Eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder of right-wing activist Suhas Shetty in Mangaluru earlier this week, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said on Saturday.

- Coovercolly Indresh

[e-mail]

MANGALURU:

The development comes a day after prohibitory orders were issued for parts of coastal Karnataka amid concerns that the murder could stoke communal clashes.

Shetty, who was hacked to death in Mangaluru on May 1, was named as the prime accused in the murder of Mohammed Fazil (23), a temporary worker at HPCL. Fazil was killed just two days after BJP youth worker Praveen Nettaru was murdered, igniting protests and unrest across the region.

While the motive behind Shetty's murder is yet to be ascertained, a senior intelligence officer suggested a possible retaliatory angle triggered by the recent killing of a Muslim man, who was beaten to death during a cricket match in Kudupu on April 27.

Addressing the media, Parameshwara said that police also prevented communal tensions from escalating in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in the wake of the killing. Shetty was hacked to death near Kinnipadavu in Bajpe area of Mangaluru on Thursday night.