Karkala: Neelaguli Padmanabha , an accused in the murder of lecturer Bhojashetty of Hebri Seethanadi was handed over to Corps of Detectives (COD) custody by a local court for further investigations on January 31.Bhojashetty was shot by the accused naxal leader suspecting the former to be an informant to law agencies. The lecturer was shot dead on the eve of assembly elections in 2008, in act of revenge.

On November 15, 2016 the naxal leader along with three of his accomplices had surrendered voluntarily in front of Chikkamaglur Superintendent of Police Annamalai. They had agreed in-principle to give up naxal activities and join the mainstream in the presence of Government constituted high powered committee comprising A K Subbaiah, Gauri Lankesh and advocate K P Sripal .

Neelaguli Padmanabha had managed to escape from an encounter at Barkana in the district after sustaining serious injuries. Cases stand registered against him at Sringeri and Hebri police stations.