NIA files chargesheet against 11 accused in Bajpe Hindu activist Suhas Shetty murder case

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against 11 accused in connection with the murder of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty, who was brutally killed near Bajpe in Dakshina Kannada district earlier this year.

The accused — Abdul Safwan, Niyaz, Mohammed, Noushad, Adil Mahroof, Kalandar Shafi, M. Nagaraj, Ranjith, Mohammed Rizwan, Ajruddin, and Abdul Khader — have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Arms Act, 1959, before the NIA Special Court in Bengaluru.

According to the chargesheet, the accused had closely monitored Suhas Shetty’s movements for several months before executing the murder on May 1, 2025. On the day of the attack, seven of the accused, armed with lethal weapons, followed Shetty’s Innova car in two vehicles.

Near Kinnipadavu, they intentionally rammed his car to block all escape routes. When Shetty tried to flee on foot, the assailants chased and hacked him to death with sharp weapons.

The NIA said the murder was a pre-planned conspiracy orchestrated by former members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) — Abdul Safwan, Niyaz, Mohammed, and Noushad — to spread terror and instill fear in the community. The conspiracy was allegedly financed by Adil Mahroof, a former member of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and PFI, who provided funds to recruit additional perpetrators.

The chargesheet further notes that the act was carried out in public to create panic and propagate a sense of terror. The agency confirmed that investigation is still underway against another accused, Abdul Razak, who remains under scrutiny for his suspected involvement in the larger conspiracy.

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