Madikeri: Eight persons have been nabbed in connection to auto driver Praveen Poojary murder case.
IGP B K Singh said that the Poojary was hacked to death in Kushalnagar to avenge incident of stone pelting at Bilal Masjid and shouting of slogans against a particular community during a rally organised by the Hindu Jagaran Vedike on August 14.
Addressing the reporters on Friday, Singh said that the arrested are PFI activist M H Tufail from Madikeri, Nayaj from Ranipet, originally hailing from Hunasur, Mohommed Musthafa, resident of Madikeri, originally hailing from Uppinangady, Ilyas from Gondi Basavahalli, Irfan from Hunasoor, PFI District Secretary T A Haris, resident of Somwarpet, Mujeeb Reheman from Madapatta and Sharief from Gondi Basavahalli. Another accused named Mohommed Afrin from Madikeri is at large.
The police have seized one motorcycle, Alto car, 2 knives and 10 mobile phones from the accused.
M H Tufail, Nayaz, Mohommed Musthafa, Ilyas and Irfan have been remanded to police custody for further investigation, while the rest have been remanded to judicial custody.
Tufail also faces attempt to murder case pertaining to attack on Nand Kumar in 2002 in Madikeri while Nayaz is facing charges of communal incite in several police station limits.
The IG has announced a cash prize of Rs one lakh to the police team that cracked the murder case.
SP Rajendra Prasad was present.
