Murdered Suhas Shetty was a rowdy sheeter, states CM Siddaramaiah as Karnataka BJP says radical elements targeting karyakartas

The coastal town of Mangaluru is tense after a rowdy sheeter Suhas Shetty was hacked to death by around five assailants in Kinnipadav near Bajpe on Thursday night. The district administration has enforced prohibitory orders and also banned the sale of liquor for the next two days as a precautionary measure. 

 

Suhas Shetty (32), who was also a Hindutva activist, was the main accused in the murder of Mohammad Fazil on July 28, 2022. Fazil’s murder in Surathkal was rumoured to be in retaliation for the killing of BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru.

 

According to police, Suhas was with five friends driving an Innova, when 5-6 assailants followed him in a car and a pick-up vehicle, waylaid and attacked him. Suhas died on the way to the hospital, while one of his friends who was also injured, is undergoing treatment at AJ Hospital.

 

The murder has triggered unrest in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, which are reporting sporadic "revenge attacks" against Muslims. The BJP leaders who visited the crime scene staged a protest and also visited his home. They urged the state government to provide adequate compensation to the family as Suhas was the sole breadwinner of the family. 

 

The murder had led to a war of words between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.

 

“The murder carried out on the street in full public view shows there is a complete breakdown of law and order in the state under the Siddaramaiah government. The radical elements are emboldened and operating with impunity and targeting the Hindu activists without any fear of the law.

 

State BJP chief BY Vijayendra said, “The brutal murder of Suhas Shetty, carried out openly in the streets and in full public view, is a chilling reflection of the alarming breakdown of law and order under the Siddaramaiah government. It also shows how emboldened radical elements have become, operating with impunity and targeting Hindu Karyakarthas without the slightest fear of consequences. Hindu organisations have no faith in this government.”

 

LOP R Ashok demanded an NIA probe into the murder and said, “The Police Commissioner has admitted that the police knew that there was a threat to Suhas’ life. But no preventive action was taken. This raises suspicion that there was possible complicity within the police department and the government. Hindu activists are becoming the target whenever Siddaramaiah comes to power. In 2013, when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister 36 Hindu activists were killed. This time too, our karyakarta was killed by ‘Jihadi brothers’ of deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar.”

 

Ashok slammed the police department and accused them of shielding the real culprits. “There is a strange system being followed here. Team A is the real culprits who commit the crime and Team B volunteers to get arrested. The police are perhaps waiting for the Team B list to make the arrest,” taunted Ashok.

 

In a counter, Siddaramaiah stated that Suhas Shetty was a rowdy sheeter, and that he had instructed the ADGP (law and order) to conduct a thorough probe and arrest the accused. “Human life is precious. I have directed the police to arrest and take legal action against the accused.”

 

The chief minister also taunted the BJP leaders for visiting the spot where Suhas was murdered and said, “BJP always tries to politicise such incidents. But what is their opinion about Modi not visiting Pahalgam despite 26 innocent people being killed? Is the Pahalgam issue not important to BJP or Modi?”

 

Meanwhile, Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has written to Union Home minister Amit Shah seeking an NIA probe into the murder. “The shocking and brutal murder of Suhas Shetty is proof of increasing unlawful activities, Islamic fundamentalism and anti-national elements in coastal Karnataka. In the past too, BJP worker Praveen Nettaru from Sullia was killed by now-banned PFI  members. Suhas’ death has proven that PFI’s sleeper cells are still operating in the region. There is a need to uproot such organisations and stall their activities,” said Chowta. 

India