Mangaluru: A fast-track Court in Mangaluru on Friday convicted 14 persons in connection with an attempt to murder two accused in the Bhaskar Shetty murder case inside the district prison here on Sept 11, 2017. The court is scheduled to pronounce the sentence on Sept 16.According to city police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy CH, the accused had assaulted undertrial prisoners Navneeth Shetty and Niranjan Bhat. Following the incident, Barke police registered a case under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to murder), among other provisions.Of the 14 convicts, three persons indentified as Loy Vegas, Dhanaraj Poojary and Abhishek are already in custody in connection with other cases. Ten others were taken into custody following the court’s order, while one accused was absent from court.According to the chargesheet, the incident occurred when Navneeth Shetty and Niranjan Bhat were walking through the verandah of Block B of the jail building towards the superintendent’s office to ascertain the dates of hearings in their cases.The prosecution alleged that the accused conspired to assault the duo with the intention of extorting money. One of the accused allegedly collided with Navneeth Shetty and later with Niranjan Bhat. When the two questioned him, the accused allegedly assaulted them with their hands and kicked them. Navneeth Shetty was allegedly also attacked with a carrom board.The prosecution further alleged that the accused threatened the two prisoners to confess to the murder of Bhaskar Shetty, Navneeth Shetty’s father, and demanded Rs 5 lakh. They allegedly threatened to kill them if the money was not paid. When jail staff intervened, one of the accused allegedly obstructed him from performing his duty. The other accused allegedly prevented jail personnel from intervening in the assault, the chargesheet stated.
