NIA arrests another accused in Praveen Nettaru murder case

NIA arrests 19th accused in Praveen Nettaru murder case, linked to PFI, as investigation continues to track absconders.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on June 4 arrested another accused in the Praveen Nettaru murder case from Mumbai airport while he was allegedly trying to flee abroad.

The accused Riyaz Yousaf Haaralli alias Riyaz is the 19th accused arrested in the case. His arrest comes less than a month after absconder Mustafa Paichar was nabbed along with Mansoor Pasha

Praveen Nettaru, a BJP Yuva Morcha district executive committee member, was brutally hacked to death by two motorcycle-borne assailants in Bellare village of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka allegedly by cadres of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in July 2022. The attack was aimed at striking terror among a section of people in the society, NIA said.

According to NIA investigations, Riyaz returned to India from abroad on the directions of absconding accused Abdul Rahman. Along with Mansoor Pasha, Riyaz had provided logistical support and a safe hideout to Mustafa Paichar in Sakleshpura, Hassan District, Karnataka.

Paichar, the secretary of PFI Puttur district and the head of the Puttur district service team was the alleged chief conspirator in the case. He had allegedly assembled the hit team that targeted the victim and, after the crime, had absconded along with others. He was finally traced and arrested by NIA from Sakleshpura on May 10, 2024 along with Mansoor Pasha.

NIA, which had taken over the investigation on August 4, 2022, has so far filed a charge sheet against 21 accused persons. The agency is continuing its manhunt to track the other absconders who are on the run.