NIA to Link Udaipur Incident to Recent Killings in Maharashtra, Gujarat: Sources Tell News18 | Exclusive

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will link Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal’s killing to similar recent murders in Maharashtra and Gujarat, top agency sources told CNN-News18.

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was hacked to death inside his shop in Udaipur by two men, allegedly over a social media post in support of a suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.

The NIA is investigating the case.

The accused were found to have links with Pakistan-based terror groups.

THE RECENT MURDERS

On June 21, a medical professional, Umesh Kolhe, from Maharashtra’s Amravati was beheaded for allegedly supporting Nupur Sharma?s remarks, the sources said.

The accused ? Abdul, Shoaib, Muddasir and Shahrukh ? were arrested in this case.

On January 25, Kishan Bharvad, a 30-year-old shopowner, was shot dead in Modhwala locality in Dhanduka in Gujarat. Two accused ? Shabbir and Imtiaz ? were arrested in the case.

The case is being investigated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and NIA. In his post on Facebook on January 6, he had projected Lord Krishna as superior to Prophet Mohammad. He had later apologised for the post.

NIA SPEAKS

“These are similar incidents. We are finding the links and studying the pattern. In all cases, the accused were arrested easily. They didn’t try to hide,” said the source.

The NIA is also checking if they are linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI), he said.

The Supreme Court on Friday slammed Sharma, saying she was “single-handedly” responsible for “igniting emotions across the country”.

The court also made a reference to the Udaipur killing during the hearing and said Sharma, with her “loose tongue?, made irresponsible comments without thinking of the consequences.

Noting that “merely being the spokesperson of a national political party does not give any person a license to say such disturbing things”, the court also expressed its reservation on Sharma bypassing the lower courts and directly approaching the apex court.

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