Paresh Mestha death: CBI report under review, decision on reinvestigation soon, says Araga Jnanendra

Team Udayavani, Oct 24, 2022, 1:52 PM IST

File Photo

Mangaluru: State government will soon decide whether to order a reinvestigation of Paresh Mesta’s death, said Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Monday.

“The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) has filed a B-report in the Paresh Mesta case. However, Mesta’s father has asked for a reinvestigation of the case. The government is reviewing to take a call on reinvestigation,” minister Jnanendra stated.

He further stated that it is a necessity that the suspicious death of Paresh Mesta has to be reviewed and the exact cause ascertained. Mesta’s father and locals claim it to be a case of murder, he added.

According to the charge sheet, the Hindu youth died after slipping into the lake, while wandering when communal clashes were underway in Honnavara town of the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka in 2017.

It mentions that Mesta had attended then CM Siddaramaiah’s programme in Kumta city after travelling about 25 kilometers with friends.

The issue was projected as the major issue during the 2018 Assembly elections, to the local Honnavar Court in this regard. The charge sheet mentions that Paresh Mesta had attended then CM Siddaramaiah’s programme in Kumta city after travelling about 25 kilometers with friends.

Paresh Mesta, who went missing on December 6, 2017, during the communal clashes in Honnavar town, was found dead near Shettikere Lake after two days.

Ruling BJP and Hindu activists alleged that Paresh was killed in the mob violence and killers have dumped the body later.

The BJP party, which was in the opposition then had launched a full-fledged agitation against the ruling Congress then. The ruling Congress government suffered a setback due to the agitation in the assembly elections of 2018.

Hindu activists demanding the arrest of the killers of Paresh, had torched the vehicle of the IGP. The police were pelted with stones. Many policemen were injured. BJP had made it a major issue in the elections.

Including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and many political leaders had visited Paresh’s house. Then Siddaramaiah government had handed over the case to the CBI.

The report by CBI is analyzed to be a setback for the ruling BJP, which termed Paresh Mesta death “accidental” and filed a closure report. The CBI has filed the closure report after investigating the case for five years. It will pronounce the verdict on November 16.

The incident had taken place during the tenure of the Congress government headed by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah. “CBI has in its report, stated that Paresh Mesta’s death was accidental and was not due to murder. This report is a slap on the face of Karnataka BJP.

“If BJP has left with any shame left, it should apologize for its slanderous campaign,” Siddaramaiah had stated.

The ruling BJP in Karnataka which had suffered a setback after the CBI filed the closure report in the Mesta death case, has decided to back his family.

(With IANS inputs)