Mangaluru (Karnataka), May 5 (PTI) Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta on Monday urged the Karnataka government to transfer the murder case of Hindutva activist Suhas Shetty to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), alleging that state authorities were 'downplaying' the case.

Addressing a press conference here, the BJP Lok Sabha member claimed that elements linked to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) were still operational in the coastal region under the banner of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).

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He cited an undercover report and recent arrests made by the NIA in other cases involving PFI-linked individuals as evidence of the group's continued activity.

Chowta questioned the Karnataka government's reluctance to involve central agencies in the investigation.

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"Why is the Congress government unwilling to hand over the case to the NIA? What are they afraid of?" he asked, referring to comments made by senior Congress leaders, including Speaker U T Khader and Home Minister G Parameshwara, who dismissed the murder as a case of personal rivalry.

Chowta pointed to past cases, such as the 2022 murder of Praveen Nettaru, where accused individuals were apprehended only after central intervention.

He said some had evaded arrest for over a year and alleged that "radical elements" had found a haven in Karnataka under the current administration.

Claiming that ideological and organisational links between PFI and SDPI remain active, Chowta warned against what he described as a pattern of "appeasement" and "scripted investigations" that obscure the motive behind such crimes.

He demanded the immediate transfer of the case to the NIA, asserting that the issue goes beyond individual incidents and involves national security concerns.

Eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Shetty, a known rowdy sheeter and Hindutva activist who was killed by a group on 1 May within the Bajpe police station limits in Mangaluru City.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)