K'taka Police Detains 5 In Shopkeeper’s Murder Case, Cong State President Blames CM's Remark For Incident

Victim Jaleel, a resident of Kuloor, was stabbed in the chest and abdomen with draggers in front of his shop by two unknown assailants on Dec 24.

New Delhi: Amid the tensions regarding the killing of a 45-year-old fancy store shop owner, the Karnataka Police has detained five persons, including a woman, news agency IANS reported on Monday.

Earlier, to maintain law and order after the stabbing of the victim, identified as Abdul Jaleel, the police department imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) till 6 am on December 27 in Surathkal and in the limits of Kavuru, Panamburu and the Bajpe police stations of the coastal region.

According to preliminary investigations, the case of murder may have a connection with the driver in the Katipalla region which took place 20 years ago. Accordingly, the police have constituted a team of eight officers to nab the killers. Shashikumar, Police Commissioner of Mangalore, said that the accused in the case will be arrested soon.

Congress State President D.K. Shivakumar alleged that the murder was the result of Chief Minister BS Bommai’s reaction to a statement supporting moral policing earlier.

CM Bommai, on the question of his earlier remark of action and reaction which he made in Mangaluru in 2021, said that there was no question of action and reaction when it comes to someone committing an offence. “The forces which start violence will be dealt with. It is the government's duty to avoid violence. The people should not believe in rumours and maintain peace, the CM appealed.

Shafi Saadi, Chairperson of the Karnataka State Board of Wakf, has demanded that the properties of the accused persons and the conspirators should be seized and a compensation of Rs 10 crore should be given to the family of the deceased by the government. He also said that all the murder cases in the coastal region should be handed over to the CBI.

The victim Jaleel, who was a resident of Kuloor and was running his shop in Katipalla (Surathkal), was stabbed in the chest and abdomen with draggers in front of his shop by two unknown assailants on December 24. Later, he succumbed to the injuries sustained in the hospital. After the postmortem, the body of the victim was handed over to the family, and the body was cremated by the family and relatives on Sunday, as reported by Deccan Herald.

The election-bound Karnataka has witnessed a number of revenge murders this year. Earlier, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Kumar Nettare was murdered on July 26 in Dakshina Kannada district and then Mohammad Fazil was killed on July 28 in Surathkal.