NIA arrests another accused involved in murder of Praveen Nettaru

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested another accused involved in the gruesome murder of BJP’s Praveen Nettaru in Karnataka in July 2022. The accused Riyaz Yousaf Haaralli alias Riyaz was arrested from Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee abroad, a statement issued by the NIA said. Riyaz’s arrest has taken the total number of accused taken into custody so far to 19 in the case. His arrest comes less than a month after absconder, Mustafa Paichar, was nabbed along with one of his harbourers, Mansoor Pasha last month.

“The NIA on Tuesday swooped down on an absconder in the Praveen Nettaru murder case and arrested him from Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee abroad,” the statement said.

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 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 investigations have shown.