Centre treating Udaipur killing as terror incident, sends NIA team

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday directed the NIA to take over the investigation of brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur and probe the involvement of any organisation and international links. 

An MHA spokesperson said on the agency’s Twitter handle that “MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. “The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated.”

MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday.

The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated.

— गृहमंत्री कार्यालय, HMO India (@HMOIndia) June 29, 2022

The two suspected perpetrators allegedly carried out the daylight murder and posted videos online admitting to the crime were taken into custody by police. In a video clip, one of the assailants declared that they had beheaded the man and then threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well.

Victim had feared for life

As per some media reports, Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, was recently arrested by the local police over some remarks made on social media by him in support of the BJP spokesperson who remarked against Prophet Muhammad. A BJP leader said the victim feared for his life and had sought police protection, but the authorities did not act on his appeal. As per the reports, an assistant sub-inspector of Dhan Mandi police station in Udaipur has been suspended on grounds of negligence as the victim had constantly complained of getting threat calls but no action was taken.

Also Read: Curfew in Udaipur after tailor’s murder; two arrested

On June 28, in broad daylight, two men with a cleaver reportedly murdered the tailor. The assailants entered his shop in the city’s Dhan Mandi area posing as customers. As the tailor took the measurements of one of them – who later identified himself as Riaz Akhtari – attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck, it is alleged.

The other man reportedly filmed the brutal murder on his mobile phone. The two men then fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip-on social media. In another video, the alleged assailant said they beheaded the tailor and threatened the prime minister for lighting this fire.

Also Read: Udaipur tailor murder: police personnel suspended for negligence

As per reports, the shopkeepers of the market had stopped police from taking away the victim’s body, saying they will allow the removal of the corpse only after the murderers are arrested and asked for compensation of ₹50 lakh and a government job for the victim’s family.

Strong response

The incident drew strong response from leaders across the country, who sought stringent punishment for the perpetrators. Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot appealed to people to maintain calm and asked them not to share the videos.

“The guilty will not be spared. The entire police team is working on it with full alertness. I can imagine the anger which is there among people due to the murder. We are taking action accordingly,” he said. Gehlot further said that there is communal tension in the country and the Prime Minister should address the people.

He said both Hindus and the Muslims are worried. “It is more impactful if the Prime Minister speaks. I believe that the PM should address the country on this occasion and should make an appeal that we will not tolerate violence at any cost. What is the problem in saying so?” he added.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday termed the killing of the tailor as a “challenge” to the country’s sovereignty as well as the freedom of thoughts and idea of secularism. It demanded that adequate security be provided to  Nupur Sharma and expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal as well as their family members, claiming that both of them are the targets of “jihadis”.

“They perpetrated the gory incident and showed the audacity of threatening the prime minister of India with death while brandishing knives in front of the camera,” VHP working president Alok Kumar noted in a video message. He said it is a challenge to the “sovereignty of India, values of liberalism, freedom of thoughts, secularism.” “We in the VHP, the people of India and the government of India accept this challenge,” he said, adding, “We will face it and win it.”

‘Insult to Islam’

The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the murder of the tailor an “insult to Islam” and demanded that the perpetrators must be given strict punishment. He said such dastardly acts have no place in a civilised society.

“The Udaipur incident is very horrifying and gruesome. Such dastardly acts have no place in a civilised society. We condemn this in the strongest terms. The perpetrators of this crime should be given strict punishment,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

Taking to Twitter, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor condemned the murder of a tailor in Udaipur and said the killers must receive “exemplary punishment”.

1/2 I unreservedly condemn the horrific beheading of shopkeeper KanhaiyaLal in Udaipur by two Muslim youth, who then posted a gruesome video of the murder on social media. https://t.co/lC0JFFcNBe
Bigotry &violence have no place in our society. Swift action must be &is being taken

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 28, 2022

“I unreservedly condemn the horrific beheading of shopkeeper Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur by two Muslim youth, who then posted a gruesome video of the murder on social media. Bigotry and violence have no place in our society,” Tharoor said, adding that swift action “must be and is being taken”. “The killers must receive exemplary punishment. No one should have any illusion that they can get away with such crimes, whatever the provocation,” he said. Tharoor also urged social media companies to take down the video in order not to inflame passions.

Call for Nupur Sharma’s arrest

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi who was addressing a gathering in Bhopal’s Ashoka Garden area as part of his party’s campaign for the Madhya Pradesh local body polls condemned the killing of the tailor and also demanded the arrest of Nupur Sharma for her remarks against the Prophet.

He said: “I condemn the (Udaipur) incident. Killing someone is not allowed in the law. Nobody can kill others. We will not take the law into our hands. This is a crime. But we demand that Nupur Sharma should also be arrested.”

Within hours of the incident, prohibitory orders banning the assembly of people have been imposed across the state for a month and mobile internet services have been suspended for the next 24 hours. At 8 pm (June 28), a curfew was declared till further orders in seven police station areas of Udaipur city.

Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, have been arrested for the murder.

(With agency inputs)