Amid protests, BJP youth wing activist cremated near Bellare

Angry party activists gherao State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Ministers from the region

July 27, 2022 10:19 pm | Updated 10:19 pm IST - MANGALURU

Mourners, including BJP activists, gherao State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Ministers V. Sunil Kumar and S. Angara in Bellare when they came to pay their respects to Yuva Morcha activist Praveen Nettaru on Wednesday.

Mourners, including BJP activists, gherao State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Ministers V. Sunil Kumar and S. Angara in Bellare when they came to pay their respects to Yuva Morcha activist Praveen Nettaru on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In a tense atmosphere and amid prohibitory orders, the body of 32-year-old BJP Yuva Morcha activist Praveen Nettaru, who was murdered on Tuesday night, was laid to rest near in Nettaru, near Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district on Wednesday.

While Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the killers were possibly hiding in Kerala, no arrests have been made so far.

Following Praveen’s murder outside his poultry farm in Bellare, BJP activists had called for bandh in Sullia, Bellare, and Puttur taluks on Wednesday. An incident of stone pelting at a KSRTC bus, as protests escalated, was reported in Bellare. Puttur Assistant Commissioner M. Girish Nandan issued prohibitory orders under under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure prohibiting gathering of five or more persons in Puttur sub-division effective till July 28 midnight.

In a procession

Gathering in large numbers near Puttur Government Hospital where Praveen’s body underwent autopsy, BJP activists took the body in a procession to Bellare at 10 a.m., even as Praveen’s family at Nettaru appealed for peace. Amid heavy police deployment, the procession moved to Bellare, 30 km away. Mid-way, people stopped the procession and offered last respects.

The procession reached Bellare around 1 p.m. and the body was kept for public viewing. When BJP State president and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, and Ministers V. Sunil Kumar and S. Angara arrived to pay last respects, they were mobbed by angry party activists who raised slogans, forcing them to leave the place quickly.

The body was finally taken to Nettaru by late afternoon and cremated by 4.30 p.m. at the site recently bought by him to build a new house.

Three assailants

Praveen was attacked around 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday by three motorcycle-borne assailants with sharp weapons as he was preparing to leave for home from his poultry farm. His friend Madhu Kumar, who was in the farm, rushed Praveen to a private hospital in Puttur where he succumbed to injuries. Mr. Kumar reportedly saw the assailants fleeing towards Puttur.

The death sparked protests by BJP activists who prevented the body from being shifted to the government hospital. They relented only after Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra visited the spot and persuaded them.

Four teams formed

Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Sonawane said four teams have been formed to trace the assailants. “We are questioning suspects,” he said.

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