Praveen Nettaru murder case: NIA arrests 21st accused
New Delhi, Jan 21 (PTI): The NIA has arrested an accused in connection with the murder of Karnataka BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru allegedly by members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in 2022, officials said Tuesday.
Ateeq Ahmed became the 21st accused to be arrested in the case, they said.
It is alleged that Ahmed had "harboured and assisted" Mustafa Paichar, the main conspirator of the killing of Nettaru in Bellare village.
Mansoor Pasha and Riyaz HY allegedly harboured Paichar, and who had conspired, recced and identified Nettaru to be eliminated at a public place on July 27, 2022 with an intention to strike terror among the people, the NIA had said earlier.
"Mustafa had planned and executed the murder," the NIA said in a statement on Tuesday.
Taking over from Karnataka Police, the NIA had re-registered the case on August 4, 2022 under various provisions of UA(P) Act and IPC.
Mustafa had absconded after killing Nettaru with the help of Ateeq, who had facilitated his movement and ferried him to Chennai, the agency said.
"Ateeq had helped Mustafa evade law enforcement till the latter's arrest in May 2024," the statement said.
The agency is continuing with its investigation to trace the remaining six accused, against whom rewards have been announced, it said.
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
