The Karnataka High Court has taken a significant step in the ongoing Praveen Nettaru murder case by directing its Computer Cell head and staff to visit the Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) offices in Bengaluru. The court aims to ascertain whether video footage from November 2022, recorded on their CCTV systems, is still available.
The directive comes in response to a petition filed by Mohammed Shiyab, the prime accused in the case. Shiyab sought the special court to summon the CCTV footage and call detail records of NIA officers. The petitioner highlighted that another accused, Mohammed Jabir, had alleged ill-treatment and torture by NIA officers in November 2022, which led him to make a confession statement.
The Special Court initially dismissed Jabir's plea, deeming the allegations as "baseless and false" as he had not raised such claims during his court appearances in November 2022. Jabir made the allegations three months later, in February 2023, while being transferred to another jail from Bengaluru prison.
While agreeing with the Special Court's findings, the Karnataka High Court ordered the inspection of the CCTV footage to address any doubts about the investigation's integrity. The Bench emphasized that Shiyab, being accused number 1 in the case, might be affected by Jabir's statement under Section 164 of the Cr. PC.
However, the Bench rejected the plea for the production of call detail records of NIA officials, citing confidentiality concerns.
The Karnataka High Court's direction instructs the central project coordinator and the technical team to examine the CCTV footage and storage capacities at the FSL and NIA offices. If the footage from the specified dates is still available, it should be collected, retrieved, or copied to a portable device and submitted to the special court in a sealed cover for possible use during the trial. If the footage is no longer accessible, a report to that effect should be provided to the court.
The case revolves around the murder of Praveen Nettaru in Mangaluru, and the court's actions aim to ensure a fair and thorough investigation into the matter.
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