The Karnataka government on Friday announced that it would recommend handing over the probe into the killing of BJP Yuva Morcha office-bearer Praveen Nettaru in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who chaired a high-level meeting with senior police officials of the State, announced that the Home Department of the State will write to the Centre to handover the investigation. Since the murder case involves organised crime and has inter-state links, the government has decided to transfer the probe to NIA, Mr Bommai told presspersons. “The State Home department will communicate to the Centre to handover the probe to NIA”, he said.
Several leaders of the BJP, including Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shobha Karandlaje, had urged the Union Home Ministry to order an NIA probe into the murder of Praveen Nettaru. The family of deceased too had urged the Chief Minister to hand over the probe to the NIA when he met the family on Thursday.
Security tightened
Mr. Bommai also said it was decided to install more check posts along the Karnataka-Kerala border and CCTV cameras in sensitive areas of Dakshina Kannada district. Both states share border routes in more than 50 locations.
Police will camp in sensitive areas of the district while an additional unit of the KSRP battalion too would be deployed to to maintain law and order in the district, he said.