The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary charge sheet against two more accused in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru in Karnataka last year, agency officials said on Thursday.
The charge sheet was filed on Tuesday against cadres of Popular Front of India (PFI) Thufail M H and Mohammad Jabir under sections of the Indian Penal Code and unlawful activities prevention act, they said.
Nettaru was allegedly murdered on July 26 last year in Bellare village of Sullia Taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. The murder, which had sent shock waves in the state, was allegedly carried out as part of PFI’s agenda to strike terror among members of one community and create communal hatred and unrest in the society with the aim of furthering its goal of establishing Islamic Rule in India by 2047, according to the NIA charge sheet.
The first charge sheet in the case was filed by NIA on January 20 in which the agency claimed that PFI had formed secret ‘hit squads’ – ‘service teams’ or ‘killer squads’ to carry out the killing of its ‘perceived enemies’ and targets.’ Twenty-one accused persons have been named in two charge sheets so far.
“NIA investigations have also revealed that Thufail M H, a resident of Kodagu district, was in charge of the PFI ‘service teams’ in Kodagu district and also a ‘PFI master trainer’ who would regularly impart advanced training, including arms training to the banned outfit’s cadres. He had harboured the three assailants of Praveen Nettaru in Kodagu and Mysuru districts of Karnataka and in Erode district of Tamil Nadu,” said a NIA spokesperson on Thursday.
Jabir, NIA added, was PFI’s Puttur district president and had actively participated in the conspiracy meeting where it was decided to recce and murder Nettaru. “He had also made provocative speeches where he had claimed that Masood’s murder would be avenged,” the agency spokesperson added.
The PFI and its eight affiliate organisations were banned under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on September 28, after a nationwide crackdown by NIA and Enforcement Directorate (ED) led to arrests and recovery of purported incriminating documents from offices and residences of the outfit’s office bearers.
The Centre alleged the outfit was fueling radicalisation and was involved in terror funding.
On 28 September 2022, the government of India declared PFI an “unlawful association” and temporarily banned the organisation for five years under the UAPA Act.