Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Feb 22: The police have arrested some more persons in connection to the murder of Pratap Poojary, an HJV activist.
Pratap was hacked to death allegedly by HJV activists, who had targetted his friend Manikanta, in the early hours of February 18 at Maroli here. Manikanta was injured in the incident. It was said that they were returning from a birthday party when the assailants attacked them.
Pratap
However, as per the case registered in Kankanady police station, Manikanta along with others, identified as Harshith Shetty, Vithesh, Pratap and Harshith were consuming liquor in the premises of Harshith Shetty's house when a group approached them with the intention of resolving a previous matter wherein Manikanta had allegedly assaulted a person named Nishith. The group comprised Sagar, Mithun, Nishith, Kodikere Tilak, Mithun, Nikhil, Shivu, Sharan, Maneesh and Rajesh. Arguments erupted between the two groups, ending in Pratap's murder. Shivu and Tilak allegedly assaulted Pratap with machetes while the others hit him with iron rods.
The police who took up the investigation arrested six persons soon after the murder, and now the total number of arrests has gone up to eight.
The arrested are Sagar Poojary (25), a resident of Veeranagar, Mithun (25), a resdent of Maroli, Kaushik (26) from Perla, Veeranagar, Tilak (28) from Akash Bhavan, Nikhil Shetty (19) from Kodikere, Shivaraj (26) from Kotekar and Rajesh (21) from Farangipete. Some of them arrested from a lodge and others from Kodikere.
The police have recovered machetes, knives and motorcycles used in the crime.
They have been produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.