Raising strong concerns over the alleged involvement of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in the murder of Hindutva activist and rowdy-sheeter Suhas Shetty, leaders from Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Hindu Jagran Vedike (HJV) have once again urged the government to hand over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Speaking to the media on Monday, HJV Prantha Pramukh KT Ullas and VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell claimed that the killing bore striking resemblance to earlier murders believed to have been executed by the PFI. “This wasn’t a spontaneous act—it was a targeted assassination, likely backed by a powerful and well-funded force,” said Ullas, dismissing the theory that it was a revenge attack for Mohammed Fazil’s murder.

Ullas further pointed to possible connections between this case and Mustafa and Kabir, accused in the Prashanth Poojary murder, and Naushad, accused in the Sukhananda Shetty case, who is suspected of financing the crime. He also alleged that Safwan, one of the accused, was staying in a property owned by a PFI member.

More explosively, Ullas hinted at internal sabotage, claiming that a police constable may have tipped off the killers about Suhas’s whereabouts. He stated that Suhas’s mother and friends had complained of harassment from the constable and alleged police instructions to Suhas not to carry tools in his vehicle.

On the inclusion of two Hindus—Ranjith and Nagaraj—among the accused, Ullas said it was a deliberate diversion tactic to mislead investigators.