Overview
- On Saturday the NIA arrested Abdul Nasir P. in Kochi and Naushad in Hosur based on inputs from the Andhra Pradesh Police, taking the total arrested in the 2022 Nettaru case to 24.
- Both men had already been named in the agency's chargesheet and are accused of knowingly and voluntarily harbouring the main assailants who killed BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru.
- The NIA has pursued the case under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and earlier obtained look-out circulars, open arrest warrants and rewards of Rs 4 lakh for information on each absconder.
- BJP workers staged protests after Nasir's arrest in Kochi and party leaders publicly asked how a wanted suspect could live in the city undetected, raising questions about local shelter or protection.
- The agency alleges the 2022 killing was a planned act by covert PFI-linked 'service teams' aimed at stirring communal unrest, a claim that underpins the investigation's national security focus and continued efforts to find the three fugitives.