Killing of a BJP Yuva Morcha leader in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada has caused unrest among the party workers; the ruling-BJP leaders have announced that they will nab culprits at the earliest.
Praveen Nettar, a Zilla BJP Yuva Morcha committee member, was hacked to death by unidentified bike-borne assailants on Tuesday night in front of his broiler shop in Bellare, Dakshina Kannada.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said, "The investigation is going on and many people have been arrested. We have doubts on Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). I cannot comment on anyone. So it is not possible to say that it is a specific person, the police will find whoever it is."
Jnanendra further added that outrage among the party workers was given since the deceased, Nettar was a loyal party worker. He further said that they will manage their party workers.
"The state and Union governments are thinking of banning SDPI and PFI. However, it cannot be banned based on a single incident. Though the groups were banned in other states, they have got a stay from courts against the ban," he further added.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced late on Wednesday night that he is cancelling the first-year anniversary celebrations of his government.
Meanwhile, no untoward incident was reported from Sullia or other places in the district so far on Thursday, police said. Anger and grief were writ large on the faces of youth workers who gathered for the funeral procession of the slain leader on Wednesday.
A section of youth workers of the party in Chikkamagaluru announced on Wednesday that they were resigning as the party had failed to protect its own cadre.
BJP state president and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel sought to pacify the party workers, saying their anger and disappointment was understandable.
"The conspiracy behind Nettar's murder at Bellare will be revealed and justice will be ensured," Kateel said, adding he will convince the workers who resigned to reconsider their decision.
The incident has also threatened to take a communal turn with suspicions being raised by right-wing outfits that the murder is in retaliation for another killing of a youth belonging to minority community in the same locality recently.
