SDPI Assembly ticket for man in jail over BJYM worker Praveen Nettaru’s murder

Shafiq is accused no. 2 in the case related to Nettaru’s murder in Bellare village. The BJP government handed over the case to the NIA later.

Though yet to open its account in the Assembly, the SDPI has managed to win seats in urban local body elections in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

For the first time, the party is planning to field candidates in 100 Assembly constituencies. It has already announced 10 candidates’ names and said that it is ready to team up with non-BJP parties.

“We consulted our local workers in Puttur, who said that Shafiq Bellare would be the right candidate. Shafiq has been framed in the murder case as he was emerging as a leader in the region. Even if he is in prison, he will contest the poll from there. We also want to send a message to SDPI workers that we will stand with them even if authorities conspire against them,” Riyaz said.

Puttur is represented by BJP MLA Sanjeev Matandoor, who won the seat in the 2018 poll. The SDPI did not contest the election. When Shakunthala T Shetty of the Congress won it in 2013, the SDPI candidate got only 4,442 (3.11 per cent) votes.

The 38-year-old Shafiq had also worked with the Popular Front of India, now a banned organisation. His father Ibrahim Bellare, who worked in Nettaru’s chicken shop, has previously said his son was framed because of his religion.

Before Nettaru’s murder, a 19-year-old, Masood, was murdered in the same region by people allegedly linked to Hindutva outfits. According to the Dakshina Kannada police, Nettaru’s murder took place in retaliation for Masood’s.

The communally sensitive district then became tense and prohibitory orders were imposed. A few days after Nettaru’s murder, another young man, Mohammed Fazil, was murdered in Mangaluru’s Surathkal.