On January 19, reports emerged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru in Karnataka, has announced a cash reward to anyone who would provide information leading to the arrest of the two absconding accused involved in the case.
According to the NIA, anyone providing information regarding the accused, Mohammed Sherif (53) of Kodaje in Bantwal taluk and K A Masud (40) of Nekkiladi, will be rewarded with Rs 5 lakhs. According to the central agency, the two are members of the now-banned Islamist terrorist organisation PFI and have been on the run since the incident happened in July last year.
The identity of informers would be kept strictly confidential, according to the NIA. People with information can contact the office of NIA, 8th floor, Sir M Visvesvaraya Kendriya Sadana, Domlur, Bengaluru- 560071 or call 080 29510900 or 8904241100 (Email: info.blr.nia@gov.in), the agency added.
NIA declares cash rewards for information on 4 absconding PFI members accused in murder of Praveen Nettaru
It may be recalled that in November 2022, NIA announced Rs 5 lakh each for information on the two accused and Rs 2 lakh each for information on the two other accused, and therefore a total of Rs 14 lakh had been announced.
According to the reports, the accused PFI jihadis on whom the reward was declared were identified as Mustafa Paijaru of Budu house in Bellare village of Sulya taluk (Rs. 5 lakhs cash reward), M.H. Tufail of Madikeri city, Kodagu district (Rs. 5 lakhs reward), M.R. Umar Farooq of Sullia (Rs 2 Lakh reward) and Abu Bakr Siddique alias Painter Siddique alias Gujari Siddique of Bellare village in Sullia (Rs. 2 lakhs reward).
The case
On July 26, a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death by unidentified assailants. In the late evening, the killers came on a bike in Bellari, Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka, and attacked Nettaru with sharp weapons. Nettaru, who ran a poultry business, was coming returning home when the attack happened. The assailants escaped after the attack. Nettaru was rushed to the hospital, but he could not be saved.
Two assailants identified as Zakir (29) from Savanoor in Haveri district and Mohammed Shafiq (27) from Bellare were arrested in July in the case. The case was then transferred to the NIA on July 29.