MHA hands over probe to NIA
Belatedly though, another Udaipur-like killing — involving the brutal murder of a 54-year-old medical shop-owner at Amravati over a WhatsApp message supporting suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma — came into sharp focus on Saturday, as the number of arrests in the macabre incident mounted to seven, including the mastermind. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the probe.
On a day when the four accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder were attacked by an angry crowd while they were being escorted by the police to the court and the court sent them to the NIA’s custody for 10 days, Maharashtra — eclipsed by the major political developments in the State — began to come to terms with the gruesome murder of Amravati-based shop owner Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe at Amravati in eastern Maharashtra on June 21.
Announcing the handing over of the probe into the Amravati incident to the NIA, Home Minister Amit Shah’s office tweeted, “The MHA has handed over the investigation of the case relating to the barbaric killing of Umesh Kolhe in Amravati on 21st June to NIA. The conspiracy behind the killing, involvement of organisations and international linkages would be thoroughly investigated.”
Soon after, an NIA team visited Amravati to probe the ghastly killing.
Interestingly enough, the Kolhe killing took place exactly a week prior to the murder of tailor Kanhaiya, who was beheaded in Udaipur.
However, the inhuman incident was overtaken by the hectic political developments involving rebellion Eknath Shinde-led MLAs, resignation by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and subsequent change in the Government.
The Amravati police have so far arrested seven persons, including the mastermind Shaikh Irfan Shaikh Rahim, owner of an NGO from Nagpur. The others have been identified as Muddasir Ahmed (22), Shahrukh Pathan ( 25), Abdul Taufiq (24), Shoaib Khan(22) Atib Rashid ( 22) and Shamim Firoz Ahmed — in connection with the murder of Umesh Kolhe. The six prime accused have been booked under sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 of the IPC .
The police made the arrests on the basis of a complaint lodged by Kolhe’s son Sanket with the City Kotwali Police Station. Amravati’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikram Sali said prima facie Kolhe’s murder was an offshoot of a social media post supporting Nupur, who had made controversial comments on Prophet Mohammad in a television debate.
The incident took place around 10.30 pm on June 21 when Kolhe was on his way home after closing his shop — Amit Medical Store. Sanket (27) and his wife Vaishnavi were accompanying him on another scooter.
Two motorcycle-borne assailants waylaid Kolhe. One of them stabbed him on the left side of his neck. In his complaint, Sanket told the police, “We were moving from Prabhat Chowk and our scooters had reached the Mahila College New High School’s gate. Two men on a motorcycle suddenly came in front of my father’s scooter and stopped him. One of them stabbed him on the left side of his neck with a knife.
“My father fell and was bleeding. I stopped my scooter and started shouting for help. Another man came and the three fled the spot on the motorcycle. With help from passers-by, I rushed my father to nearby Axon Hospital where he died during treatment.”
The investigations have revealed that Kolhe inadvertently posted the message supporting Nupur in a WhatsApp group in which his Muslims customers were members. One of the arrested accused reportedly said that Kolhe’s post was an insult to Prophet Mohahmmad and hence he must be killed.
Apart from arresting six persons in connection with the incident, the Amravati police have seized the knife with which the murder was committed, mobile phones, vehicle and clothes used for the crime, and obtained CCTV footage from the scene of crime.
“We have sent the seized electronic devices to for forensic tests, while the scrutiny of technical evidence is currently on. We have sought details of the bank accounts of all arrested accused and their family members were obtained and scrutiny is in progress,” a senior police officer said.
On his part, Sanket has told the police that his father was not associated with any political party.
“I have heard that he was murdered over a social media post. I checked his Facebook account and did not find anything objectionable in it. I am sure he was not murdered for robbery. Only the police can establish as to what was the motive behind my father’s murder,” Sanket said.
Meanwhile, in a letter written on June 27, 2022 (a day before the killing of Kanhaiya) to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Independent MP from Amaravati Navneet Rana said since Kolhe regularly made pro-Hindu posts on social media, suspecting it could have links similar to the Udaipur killing.
Among other things, Navneet charged that former Congress Guardian Minister of Amravati district Yashomati Thakur had allegedly pressured local police commissioner Aarti Singh to cover up the incident, and demanded a probe and action even against the city police chief.
Earlier in the day, a special court on Saturday sent the four people accused in the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli to 10-day custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Teli was stabbed to death, allegedly by Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad, on June 28 for purportedly sharing on social media former BJP spokesperson Nupur’s remarks on the Prophet.
Outside the court, the four accused were attacked by the people who had gathered there.
Riyaz and Ghouse were arrested the same day. Two others accused in the case - Asif Hussain and Mohsin Khan - were arrested subsequently. The four were produced before a Jaipur court on Saturday afternoon - of them, Riyaz and Ghouse were brought with their faces covered. The CBI court number 1, which deals with NIA cases, sent them to 10-day NIA custody.
With the NIA having taken over the investigations, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Rajasthan Police has handed over all documents related to the case to the Central agency.
