NIA arrests another accused involved in murder of BJP's Praveen Nettaru in K'taka
New Delhi, Jun 4: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested another accused involved in the gruesome murder of BJP's Praveen Nettaru in Karnataka in July 2022.
The accused Riyaz Yousaf Haaralli alias Riyaz was arrested from Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee abroad, a statement issued by the NIA said.
Riyaz's arrest has taken the total number of accused taken into custody so far to 19 in the case.
His arrest comes less than a month after absconder, Mustafa Paichar, was nabbed along with one of his harbourers, Mansoor Pasha last month.
"The NIA on Tuesday swooped down on an absconder in the Praveen Nettaru murder case and arrested him from Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee abroad," the statement said.
Nettaru, a BJP Yuva Morcha district executive committee member, was brutally hacked to death by two motorcycle-borne assailants in Bellare village of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka by cadres of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in July 2022.
According to the NIA investigations, Riyaz returned to India from abroad on the directions of absconding accused Abdul Rahman.
Along with Mansoor Pasha, Riyaz had provided logistical support and a safe hideout to Mustafa Paichar in Sakleshpur, Hassan District, Karnataka, the statement said.
"Paichar, the secretary of PFI Puttur district and the head of the Puttur district service team, was the chief conspirator in the case," it added.
He had assembled the hit team that targeted the victim and, after the crime, had absconded along with others, the NIA said, adding that "he was finally traced and arrested by NIA from Sakleshpur on 10th May 2024 along with Mansoor Pasha".
NIA, which had taken over the investigation on August 4, 2022, has so far filed a charge-sheet against 21 accused persons.
The agency is continuing with its manhunt to track the other absconders, the statement said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
