Digital Desk: Three of the seven suspects detained in the murder
of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal were put to NIA custody on Tuesday by the
National Investigation Agency (NIA) court designated in Jaipur till July 12,
and the other four were sent to judicial custody until August 1.
On June 28, two men—Mohammad Riyaz Akhtari and Gaus
Mohammed—hacked the neck of a tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, for endorsing former BJP
spokeswoman Nupur Sharma's comments about the Prophet Mohammed. They then
posted a video to social media, claiming they were taking revenge for the
insult to Islam and inciting racial unrest in Rajasthan.
On Tuesday, amid heavy security, the seven defendants—Akhtari,
Gaus, Mohsin, Asif, Mohammad Mohsin, Wasim Ali, and Farhad Mohammad Sheikh—were
produced in court.
According to special public prosecutor TP Sharma, the court
committed Akhtari, Gaus, and Sheikh to the custody of the NIA while placing the
other four in judicial custody.
The others were detained for their claimed participation in the
scheme in addition to the primary suspects, Akhtari and Gaus. The Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act has been used to file charges against every
defendant (UAPA). They had previously been detained by the NIA until July 12.
In the meantime, on Tuesday, the NIA team searched the homes of
potential suspects in the Mukherjee Chowk neighbourhood of Udaipur. According
to others with knowledge of the situation, the team has also detained three to
four people and is questioning them.
In the video they released soon after the murder, Akhtari and Gaus
allegedly threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi while gleefully posing with
the murder weaponry. They are being questioned on their participation in online
communities that promoted radicalization and their ties to the Dawat-e-Islami
organisation, which has its headquarters in Karachi.
The central agency is also looking
into all of the accused's phones and other electronic equipment to see whether
there are any indications of linkages to international terror networks or
social media.
The NIA is also looking into the
murder of a chemist that happened in Maharashtra's Amravati district last month
in addition to the homicide in Udaipur.
Umesh Kolhe, a 54-year-old scientist,
is also accused of being killed for posting on social media in support of
Sharma's criticism of the Prophet. The murder occurred one week before the
tailor in Udaipur was killed.
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