Eleven individuals have been charged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with organising and carrying out the murder of Suhas Shetty, a former member of the Bajrang Dal, in Karnataka. According to authorities, the crime was intended to instill dread and terror in the community.
In a coordinated ambush on May 1, a squad of armed attackers allegedly followed, encircled, and killed Shetty, according to the chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court in Bengaluru. The agency claims that seven guys followed Shetty's Innova in two cars, crashed into it, blocked his escape path, and then attacked him with machetes and swords.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which had suggested that the murder might be connected to a wider conspiracy and national security concerns, directed the NIA to take over the inquiry. Links to former members of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) have been uncovered during the probe.
The chargesheet claims that Shetty's actions were monitored for a number of months prior to the assault. The agency identified the alleged mastermind as former PFI member Abdul Safwan, also known as Kalavaru Safwan, also known as Chopu Safwan. He is charged with plotting alongside Adil Maharoof, Mohammed Musamir, also known as Muzammil, Noushad, also known as Vamanjoor, also known as Chotte Noushad, a former member of the PFI and KFD, and Niyaz, also known as Niya.

According to investigators, Maharoof funded the scheme by offering funds to entice more assailants, either by promising payment or by taking advantage of preexisting animosity towards Shetty.
The chargesheet also names Ranjith, Mahammed Rizwan, also known as Rijju, Azaruddin, also known as Ajju, Abdul Khader, also known as Noufal, Kalandar Shafi, also known as Mande Shafi, and M Nagaraja, also known as Naga, also known as Appu. The FBI also stated that it is still looking into Abdul Razak, another suspected person.
"The Central Government is of the opinion that a Scheduled Offence under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, has been committed... and it is required to be investigated by the National Investigation Agency," the Ministry of Home Affairs stated in a notification.

According to the police, Shetty was travelling in the Kinnikambla neighbourhood of Mangaluru with five friends when a group of men stopped his car, took him outside, and fatally hacked him in front of his friends.
In coastal Karnataka, where tensions between communities have occasionally arisen, Shetty's murder incited considerable fury. Leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal staged protests, claiming that the murder was a targeted assault on Hindu activists. The Congress government was also charged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with neglecting to protect right-wing workers.
Authorities used Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to issue prohibitory orders in response to the disturbances. Twelve persons have been taken into custody in relation to the case thus far.