‘Victims were easy targets’

Mangaluru: Two youths from Dakshina Kannada district lost their lives, as they may have been easy targets. While the police are yet to place on record, the motive behind the murders, senior officials investigating the cases, suspect that Mahammed Fazil and Praveen Nettaru were easy targets.
Both the victims were popular in social circles, and the places where they lived. While Praveen was part of a political party and popular in social circles, Fazil used to engage in various social causes, including blood donation drives. Though not a primary member of any organisations, he was allegedly close to persons from certain organisations.
A preliminary investigation into the Fazil murder case, revealed that the six accused had identified seven targets, and Fazil was one of them. Sources probing the Praveen murder case informed that several people from the same village as the victim, and nearby villages, had hatched the conspiracy. The target is suspected to be random, and probably with no personal rivalry, but with a motive to instil fear. It may be in retaliation to the Masood murder case.