NIA books killers of Udaipur tailor under UAPA

The National Investigation Agency Wednesday registered a case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the 'heinous murder' of a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur by two people who, the agency said, wanted to 'strike terror among the masses across the country'.

A spokesperson for the agency said NIA teams have already reached Udaipur and requisite action for expeditious investigation of the case has been initiated.

"The accused persons had also circulated a video of the criminal act in the social media claiming responsibility for the murder in order to trigger panic and strike terror among the masses across the country," he said.

He said the case has been registered under various section of the Indian Penal Code and the UA(P)A.

The case was initially registered at Dhanmandi police station in Udaipur.

'The NIA has re-registered a case under sections 452, 302, 153(A), 153(B), 295(A) & 34 of IPC and sections 16, 18 & 20 of UA(P) Act, 1967 against accused who have conspired, planned and committed the heinous murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Telli on 28.6.2022 in Udaipur, Rajasthan,' the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the two accused had inflicted multiple injuries to the victim with sharp weapons.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the Rajasthan Police has also booked the two men under the UAPA.

"The Udaipur murder was meant to spread terror. Information has also surfaced that the killers have contacts abroad," he said.

The case will be investigated by the NIA and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police will fully cooperate with the probe agency, he said.

Gehlot made the remarks after chairing a high-level meeting in which he reviewed the situation in Udaipur.

Official sources said the chief minister has also convened an all-party meeting at the his residence at 6 pm on Wednesday over the Udaipur incident.

Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was on Tuesday murdered by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to Islam.

The incident triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city.

Lal was cremated on Wednesday in the presence of a large number of people.

'A high-level review meeting was held today on the Udaipur incident. Police officials said preliminary investigation has revealed that the incident was prima facie done to spreading terror,' Gehlot tweeted.

He said a case has been registered under UAPA.

Further investigation will be done by the NIA in which Rajasthan ATS will fully cooperate, he said.

"The police and the administration should ensure law and order in the entire state and take strict action against those trying to create nuisance," he said.

It has also been decided to give out-of-term promotion to five policemen-- Tejpal, Narendra, Shaukat, Vikas and Gautam -- who were prompt in arresting the accused involved in the Udaipur incident, the chief minister said.

Riyaz and Gose Mohammad had brutally murdered Lal, aged around 45 years, inside his shop in Dhan Mandi police station area on Tuesday.

The two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, have been arrested by the police.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had "beheaded" the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well.

Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Muhammad.

Asserting that the killing was not merely a murder but a 'terror attack', the BJP on Wednesday held the Congress government in Rajasthan responsible for the grisly crime and claimed that terror outfits are flourishing in the state due to its appeasement policy towards one community.

BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore slammed Gehlot for terming the incident as a murder, and said Lal's killing was not an isolated incident but marked continuation of a series of crimes linked to religious bigotry.

Not a week has gone by when some 'jihadi' incident has not happened in the state, he told a press conference.

Killers filmed his killing and made the video viral to terrorise the country, he said, calling it a terror attack.

Rathore also hit out at Gehlot for asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an appeal for peace as there is communal tension in the country, saying the chief minister should leave his chair if he cannot provide security to people and handle the situation amid internal feud in his own party.

To make claims about 'mahaul', a reference to Gehlot speaking of communal tension in the country, is making an excuse for such terror attacks, he said.

The Congress is losing power in one state after another, and this talk of 'mahaul' is manufactured claim from its leaders, he said.

Citing several violence incidents in different parts of the state and a recent call from a Muslim cleric for beheading, apparently after Sharma's offensive remarks against Prophet Muhammad, Rathore said the state government never worked for people's security and in fact allowed a radical outfit to take out a rally instead of stopping it.

While Kanhaiya Lal kept seeking security, he was arrested and never given any security while brother of a killer was given police protection, the BJP leader alleged, noting that the tailor was attacked and his throat slit at the first opportunity by the killer when he opened his shop after keeping it closed for some days.

:Kanhaiya Lal's throat was slit in a terror attack. There is outrage across the country, and a feeling of insecurity has hit the common man," Rathore said, asking people to maintain peace and harmony.

Their anger is justified, he added.

Terror outfits have been flourishing in the state, and the Gehlot government in its three-and-a-half years of tenure has directly or indirectly encouraged them, he alleged, saying it has taken one decision after another to appease one community while being strict towards another.

It has led to sleeper cells linked with terror outfits being active in the state, he said, claiming those forces in and outside India wanting to destabilise the country are using the state.

With the Centre deciding to treat the tailor's killing as a terror incident and asking the National Investigation Agency to extensively probe the incident, including if any organisation or international links were behind the sensational killing, Rahore said the NIA will probe all angles.

This will include whether some people have abetted the crime, he said.