Mangaluru: Six people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a youth belonging to a minority community in Surathkal here, police said.
The accused were arrested from the outskirts of Udyavara by the Mangaluru police and the CCB team. Mangaluru police Commissioner N.Shashikumar, who addressed a press conference soon after the arrest said, “A total of seven persons have been arrested in the case including the owner of the Eon car used for the crime. A rowdy-sheeter Suhas Shetty (29) from Bajpe, who has four criminal cases against him including a murder case along with Mohan alias Nepali Mohan (26), Abhishek (23), Giridhar (23), Srinivas and Deekshit (21), who too have criminal cases against them, were arrested. While one Ajit Crasta, owner of the Eon car which he rented out to the accused for a hefty sum of Rs 15,000 for three days has also been detained.”
According to reports the murder was a conspiracy hatched on July 26 night to avenge the death of Praveen Nettaru. However, the target was zeroed down later. “It was not a case of mistaken identity as being speculated nor is it linked to any love affair of the deceased. It is a clear case of pre-meditated murder where the car, weapon and target were consciously picked and the crime was executed,” Shashikumar added at the briefing.
The eight-member Social Media Monitoring Cell set up after the serial murders have so far filed 17 cases against individuals who had posted provocative posts and comments and unverified information. The commissioner appealed to the people to exercise restraint while posting on social media to avoid legal cases.