Cops to visit hideouts of NaMo Naresh to seize his discarded mobiles, sim cards

[email protected] (CD Network)
July 1, 2016

Mangaluru, Jul 1: The III Judicial Magistrate First Class Court here has extended for two days the police custody of Naresh Shenoy aka NaMo Naresh, the prime accused in the murder of RTI activist Vinayak Panduranga Baliga.

shenoycourt 4

Naresh, who had been absconding since the March 21 murder, was formally arrested by the police on June 26. He was initially produced before the court on July 27. The court had then allowed his police custody up to June 30 for questioning about various aspects of the case.

K Tilakchandra, assistant commissioner of police, Mangaluru central sub-division, investigating officer in the case produced Naresh before the court and sought his custody for five more days. He informed the court that police had seized the car which Naresh had used to flee the city after the March 21 incident and go to Goa. The car belonged to Giridhar Shetty, which he left in Goa and is said to have taken a flight from there to Delhi. This is being verified, he said.

Police also have also seized the scooter reportedly used by three assailants, who are among the six other accused people arrested in the case. Police have also visited places where Naresh reportedly met the other accused and hatched the plan to murder Vinayak Baliga.

Tilakchandra in seeking additional days of police custody said police needed to visit the hideouts where Naresh stayed following the murder and seize mobile phones and sim cards that he is believed to have discarded.

He also informed the court that they needed to question the accused regarding the whereabouts of Vignesh Nayak, owner of a multi-utility vehicle that Naresh is said to have used for commission of murder. They also need to visit few more places with Naresh and seize documents related to the murder.

Magistrate Manjunath who permitted his custody till July 2, allowed his lawyers to file objections to police request to subject him to polygraph, brain mapping and narco tests.

The city-based RTI activist Baliga was murdered by hired killers on March 21 last near his residence at Kodialbail here. The case had generated public interest as the investigation was personally led by Police Commissioner M Chandra Sekhar.

Naresh is a popular Hindutva leader and founder of Namo Brigade which had orchestrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election campaign in 2014. The Namo Brigade, which was his outfit's original name, was later renamed as Yuva Brigade.

Besides Naresh, the other arrested are Shailesh (40), Shivaprasad (28), Vineet Poojary (26) and Nishit Devadiga (23). Naresh's close associate, photographer K Manjunath Shenoy (39), was also arrested for helping the accused abscond. He was later granted bail, police said.

The suspected motive for the murder relates to financial irregularities in a temple in the city. The temple is a cash- rich religious institution belonging to Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) community. Police sources said that NaMo was angered when Baliga, a fellow community member, tried to expose the dealings of the accused in the temple.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Udupi, Dec 15: What was meant to be a post-pilgrimage gathering turned tragic in Padukere village of Brahmavar taluk, Udupi district, late Sunday night, when a clash among youths escalated into a fatal assault, leaving one man dead.

The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Santosh Mogaveera, a resident of Padukere.

According to preliminary information, the incident took place during a late-night drinking party involving a group of local youths who had recently returned after completing their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala shrine. An argument reportedly broke out among the group and soon escalated into a violent confrontation.

During the ensuing brawl, Santosh Mogaveera was allegedly assaulted and collapsed at the spot after sustaining serious injuries. He was rushed by local residents to a private hospital in Brahmavar, where doctors declared him dead.

On receiving information, senior police officials, including Brahmavar Circle Inspector Gopikrishna, Kota Police Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar T, Station ASI Manthesh Jabagoudar, and head constables Pradeep and Ashok, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

Police have taken four youths into custody in connection with the incident. A case has been registered at the Kota police station, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the death.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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