Girl’s Parents And Ram Sena Leader Among 10 Arrested In Brutal Murder Of Muslim Youth Arbaz Mulla

Ten days after the brutal murder of 24-year-old Arbaz Mulla, the Belagavi district police have arrested 10 persons including the leader of the extremist Shri Ram Sena Hindustan and the parents of the girl, who was in an interfaith relationship with Mulla.

The arrested have been identified as Pundalika Maharaj (39), Eerappa Basavanni Kumbara (54), Susheela Eerappa (42), Kuthabuddhin Allahbaksh (36), Maruthi Prahlad (30), Manjunath Thukaram (25), Ganapathi Jnaneshwara (27), Prashanth Kallappa (28), Praveen Shankar (28) and Shridhar Mahadeva Doni.

Arbaz’s dismembered body was found on a railway track near Khanapur on September 28 with his hands tied behind his back. His mother, Nazima Shaik, in her complaint has accused the members of the Shri Ram Sena and the father of the girl for his murder.

Belagavi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Laxman Nimbargi said Eerappa and Susheela Eerappa — parents of Arbaz’s Hindu girlfriend  — had allegedly hired men to kill Arbaz. Pundalika, the leader of the Shri Ram Sena is the prime accused who formed the team and killed Arbaz.

Arbaz, a resident of Azam Nagar in Belagavi, was a civil engineering graduate who worked as a car dealer in Belagavi city.

According to the police, on September 26, Arbaz and his mother went to Khanapur after Pundalika Maharaj asked them to meet him, to settle his affair with a Hindu girl. Arbaz and his mother were threatened with dire consequences and forced him to delete all the photos of the girl from his phone and even broke its SIM card.

Arbaz’s mother has even alleged that Mulla was asked to pay extortion money of Rs 17,000 to keep to resolve the matter.

The police said on September 28, the girl’s parents allegedly paid Pundalika to eliminate Arbaz. Pundalika and his team then robbed him of his money and killed him in cold blood before throwing his body on railway tracks, to make it appear as a suicide.

Arbaz’s mother has alleged that before he went to meet Pundalika, he had sold his car.