Bajrang Dal activist Bhuvith Shetty and his associate, Achuta (28), both are the member of Bajrang Dal, were arrested by the police on Thursday for the November 12 attack on two youths.
The arrests were made by the special team of the district police. Investigations revealed that 28-year-old Harish Poojary who was mistakenly taken to be from the minority community was killed in the attack and his friend Samiulla was critically injured.
Bhuvith Shetty also had threatened Kannada scholar and rationalist K S Bhagwan on social media following the killing of rationalist Dr. M M Kalburgi.
Harish Poojary was stabbed to death last week over communal unrest in Bantwal taluk in the wake of birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan.
“The accused men came in a blue Maruti Omni van and cordoned off Harish and Samiulla at the Old Gate on the Beltangadi-BC Road near Navoor and attacked them. Samiulla managed to escape, but Harish was not able to. The attackers fled the scene when they saw people coming,” said the police.
“Basically, they wanted to add create communal tension in the district. Unfortunately, his evil designs led to the death of an innocent person,” said a police officer.
According to the police, both Bhuvith and Achuta have a history of criminal cases in Bantwal area of the district.