The arrested were produced before media persons on Tuesday afternoon with their faces covered before producing them to a local court. Interestingly at least three among the arrested are painters in profession. Kabeer too was working as a painter for some time.
Police revealed their identity as 1) Ravi alias Tikki Ravi alias Annappa Swami, a painter in profession, hailing from Haveri but settled in the Dakshina Kannada district since long time, 2)Naga alias Nagaraja Poojary, hailing from Mulky, 3) Thilakraj Shetty alias Chetu, a painter, from Thokur, 4) Chetan alias Chetu, a driver from Kodikere, 5) Sahan alias Shan, from Ullal, and 6) Lokesh alias Loku, a painter from Thokur. Except Shan, who is a 19 year old college going student, all other five accused are aged between 25 and 30 years.
Singh said that there are chances of more arrests being made as the investigation into the murder case goes deeper.
Disclosing the criminal background of the accused, he said that three cases including two in Suratkal and one in Mangalore Rural police station have already been lodged against Chetan, one case in Uppinangady and one in Kavoor police station lodged against Thilakraj Shetty, one case in Urwa, four in Kavoor, five in Barke and two cases in Bunder Police station have been lodged against Ravi, 11 cases in Panambur and two cases in Suratkal have been lodged against Lokesh and two cases including one in Uppinangady and one in Panambur have been lodged against Nagaraj. All these five persons were previously involved in murder, murder attempt, assault and riot cases, while Shan has formally opened his crime record with the Kabeer murder case.
Singh said although the prime intention of assailants seems to have been taking a revenge for the murder of BJP leader and communal goon Mulky Sukhananda Shetty (2006), further investigation may well bring out other possible intentions of the perpetrators of this crime.
He said that six sharp weapons including swords and rods have been recovered from the arrested and from the Scorpio, which was seized on last Saturday.
Who is the owner of the Scorpio?
Replying to a query, the Commissioner said that police are yet to find out the real owner of the black Scorpio, that was used by the assailants to murder Kabeer, near Gurupur last Friday, February 25.
The very next day, Kavoor police have seized the Scorpio, which was found deserted at Malemar near Kunntikana on the outskirts of the city.
Singh said that the investigation has confirmed that the ownership of the Scorpio has been changed at least five times. However, improper records have been a hurdle to find out the current owner of the seized vehicle, he said.
Reward
Appreciating the effort of the special police team in nabbing the accused, the Commissioner has also declared a reward of Rs 10,000 for the team headed by Panambur sub-division assistant police commissioner M Puttamadaiah. Singh also said that police have taken appropriate steps to prevent such incidents in the future.
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