Tensions in Karnataka town after BJP worker hacked to death

Unknown motorcycle borne assailants hacked a local BJP youth functionary, police said on Wednesday, as tension gripped the town with the VHP calling for bandh in some of the taluks to condemn the killing.

Police are probing various angles, including the assailants coming from neighbouring Kerala, into the killing of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district executive committee member Praveen Nettaru.

The victim, 32, resident of Nettaru in Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district was heading home after closing his shop Akshaya Poultry Farm late Tuesday evening when the unknown assailants hacked him to death, police said.

As soon as he was attacked, he tried to escape and ran but he fell down after a blow on his head, police said.

Local residents immediately informed police, which rushed to the spot and took the blood soaked Nettaru to the hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

Dakshina Kannada Rural district Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Bhagawan Sonawane told PTI investigations are on though there is no breakthrough as of now.

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To a query on the possibility of the assailants coming from Kerala, the officer said, "that is one of the possibilities. We are working on various angles. We are on it." Following the incident, the BJP and many Hindu organisations staged a protest against the killing in front of the hospital where the body was kept.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has given a Bandh call in Kadaba, Suliya and Puttur Taluks of the district on Wednesday against the killing.

Local BJP leader Muralidhar Hamsatadka said the Hindus were in shock and dismay following the brutal murder of Nettaru. He appealed to the Deputy Commissioner of the district to console the bereaved family members. Following the incident, four police teams have been constituted to nab the assailants.

Security has been beefed up in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts as additional forces have been deployed to ensure law and order.

Police also suspect the murder could have been carried out due to vengeance as a youth was murdered in the region a few days ago.