Naresh Shenoy, founder of Yuva Brigade, has been arrested by the Mangaluru police in connection with the murder of 51-year-old RTI activist Vinayak Baliga.
Police Commissioner M. Chandra Sekhar told reporters here on Sunday that Shenoy, the prime accused in the case, was on the run since March 21 when Baliga was murdered. Over the past three months, he was in Jammu and Kashmir, Gorakhpur, Lucknow and places bordering Nepal.
Mr. Sekhar said Shenoy was arrested from a house in Hejmady near Udupi and denied reports that he had surrendered. Asked how Shenoy had managed to escape from the police for so long, he said that this would be revealed during questioning. “We will book all persons who have harboured Shenoy and arranged his logistics,” he said.
Shenoy has been named as the prime accused in the 770-page charge sheet filed by Investigation Officer K. Tilakchandra before the 3rd Judicial Magistrate First Class on June 23. A supplementary charge sheet will be filed shortly giving clearly the reasons behind the murder of Baliga, Mr. Sekhar said.
Vinayak Baliga was hacked to death allegedly by three persons near his house in Kodialbail on March 21. The police first arrested Vineet Poojary, Nishit Devadiga and Shiva alias Shivaprasad, who according to police, were the three persons who assaulted Baliga. The police arrested Shailesh and photographer K. Manjunath Shenoy alias Manju Neereshwalya for allegedly helping Shenoy to escape from the police. On June 18, the police arrested Srikant, a close associate of Shenoy, been accused of hiring services of three persons who murdered Baliga.
