Hindu leader Suhas Shetty hacked to death in public view in Mangaluru

New Delhi: The coastal city of Mangaluru remained under a tense hush on Friday as a bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) paralysed normal life in Dakshina Kannada district.

The shutdown was in protest against the brutal killing of 30-year-old Hindu leader Suhas Shetty, whose violent end has reopened old wounds in a region already scarred by communal and political fault lines.

Shops and businesses stayed shuttered, public transport vanished from the roads, and prohibitory orders under Section 144 blanketed the city, all within hours of the VHP’s bandh call.

The trigger: a targeted killing on the evening of May 1.

According to Mangaluru City Police, Shetty, travelling with five associates in a vehicle registered as KA-12-MB-3731, was intercepted by a group of five to six attackers near Kinnipadavu Cross in Bajpe.

The assailants, travelling in a Swift and a pickup vehicle, launched a swift and brutal attack using lethal weapons. Though Shetty was rushed to AJ Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries soon after.

For the police, this was not an unfamiliar name.

R. Hitendra, ADGP (Law & Order), said, "Yesterday late evening, a man named Suhas Shetty was murdered. There was a tense situation in the city after that. We have made suitable arrangements. The post-mortem is underway, and cremation arrangements will be made. We request the citizens of Mangaluru to maintain peace. We have identified the accused, and our teams are on to them.”

Shetty was the primary accused in the 2023 murder of Mohammed Fazil in Surathkal—a killing that took place just two days after BJP Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death in the same district. Shetty’s criminal history included five cases, including two murder charges. One conviction, two acquittals, and an ongoing trial defined his record.

In life, he was both a political symbol and a cautionary tale. In death, he has become a flashpoint once again.

The VHP’s response—a bandh reminiscent of the one called in 2022 after Nettaru’s killing—led to a near-total shutdown. Section 144, which prohibits the assembly of more than four people in public spaces, was enforced as a preventive measure.

The pattern of murder, polarisation, bandh, and prohibitory orders has become all too familiar in coastal Karnataka.

Mangaluru City Police have registered a case at Bajpe Police Station and formed multiple teams to trace the absconding attackers. Police officials have also increased surveillance across sensitive zones with checkpoints and rapid response units.

Once celebrated as an educational and commercial hub with a cosmopolitan ethos, Mangaluru has gradually acquired the tag of a communal tinderbox.

From the Ramjanmabhoomi movement to today’s algorithm-driven polarisation, the coastal belt has struggled to escape its spiral of sectarian flashpoints.