2 men arrested for murder of BJP youth wing leader in Karnataka

Nettaru, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district executive committee, was allegedly hacked to death on Tuesday in Dakshin Kannada district by unknown bike-borne miscreants. The 32-year-old, a native of Bellare in Dakshina Kannada, was attacked by the assailants when he returned home late Tuesday evening after shutting his poultry business.

Two men were arrested on Thursday, two days after BJP youth wing member Praveen Nettaru was killed in the Karnataka state of Dakshina Kannada. "This is only a preliminary inquiry. On the basis of the evidence we had with us, we have detained Zakir and Shafiq. Up to 15 persons were interrogated, and two of them have since been detained," police reported. The authorities confirmed Zakir's ties to the outlawed Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).

Nettaru, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district executive committee, was allegedly hacked to death on Tuesday in Dakshin Kannada district by unknown bike-borne miscreants. The 32-year-old, a native of Bellare in Dakshina Kannada, was attacked by the assailants when he returned home late Tuesday evening after shutting his poultry business.

The murder of a BJP youth functionary sparked protests in various sections of the district on Wednesday, with reports of stone pelting and lathi charges in some regions.

Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister, promised on Wednesday that those responsible for the "heinous deed" will be apprehended quickly and punished in accordance with the law. "Praveen Nettar, a party member from Sullia in Dakshina Kannada, was brutally murdered, and this is abhorrent. The perpetrators of the atrocious deed will be apprehended swiftly and punished in accordance with the law," in a tweet, the Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister has cancelled celebrations planned on Thursday to mark his government's first year in power.

"After BS Yediyurappa brought the BJP to power, it has been in power for three years at the end of my government's first year in office. We had planned for Janotsava, but I have chosen to postpone the activities after seeing how much the victim's mother and family are suffering," in a hastily convened news conference at his home on Wednesday night around midnight, Bommai remarked.