NIA arrests key accused in Praveen Nettaru murder case on his arrival from Qatar

Investigations had revealed that Abdul Rahaman had, on the directions of PFI leadership, voluntarily harboured the main assailants and others involved in the case. Rahaman, who carried a reward of Rs 4 lakh, had fled to Qatar after the attackers were arrested.

After Rahaman’s arrest, NIA said on Friday, “The killing was part of a larger conspiracy aimed at striking terror among the people and unleashing communal hatred and unrest in the society.”

The NIA, in April, chargedheeted four accused, including Rahaman, in the murder case, taking the total number of charge-sheeted people to 28.

Six accused in the case had gone into hiding, prompting the Central agency to declare rewards to those providing information on the absconders.

In January, NIA announced the arrest of Ateeq Ahmed, a key accused in the case. According to the agency, Ahmed had under the PFI leadership’s guidance harboured and assisted Mustafa Paichar, identified as the chief conspirator in the case.

Ahmed is the 21st accused to be arrested in the case. Paichar had planned and executed Nettaru’s murder at Bellare, which was carried out as part of PFI’s agenda to instigate communal unrest among people, said the NIA that took over the case from Karnataka Police in August 2022.

Investigations revealed that PFI had formed secret teams called ‘PFI Service Teams’ or ‘Killer Squads’ to carry out targeted killings, the agency stated in its initial chargesheet.