Bengaluru: Was the sensational murder of flower seller and Bajrang Dal activist Prashant Poojary in Moodbidri on October 9 a culmination of the previous two near fatal attacks on three other people in coastal Karnataka by Poojary killers, some of who are still at large?
Before Poojary’s murder the accused had reportedly attacked two men – Ashok and Vasu in Handel near Moodbidri. They had later attacked one person by the name of Jaya Kotiyan in nearby Permude village after mistaking them as “saffron and anti-cow slaughter activists.”
“All the three attacks including Poojary murder have taken place in a span of 45 days with the aim to create communal unrest in the region.
Mangaluru police has arrested nine men, who are allegedly involved in Poojary murder. On October 23 with the help of Maharashtra police they arrested the ninth accused – Mohammed Imitiyaz Thangalkatte from Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.
“Thangalkatte has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the Poojary murder case in which Mangaluru police had arrested eight accused so far. Some of the accused are still at large,” said an official source. “The mastermind and the key conspirators behind the ‘political’ murder had organised for financial help to the families of the accused in the case of their arrest and the legal fee of the lawyers, who will be hired for their bail,” he added.
The Poojary murder accused – Rashid, Hanif, Mohammed Ilyas, Ibrahim, Sharief, Mustafa, Kabeer, Mustafa and Thangalkatte reportedly owe allegiance to an organisation, which claims to be socially committed to the cause of minorities and backward classes.
States told to tighten security
Following Intelligence alert that there is a concerted effort by hitherto unknown extremist elements to destabilize the communal harmony in the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all the states and Union territories to remain vigilant and book offenders involved in the attacks under the stringent and non-bailable National Security Act.
