Two more persons arrested by the Rajasthan police in connection with the brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur on June 28 over a social media post supporting suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma were sent to judicial custody by a local court on Friday.
Mohsin and Asif have been arrested for allegedly providing logistical support to the prime accused, Mohammed Riyaz Attari and Ghous Mohammed, in the killing of Kanhaiya Lal Teli. The other two were sent to 14-day judicial custody on Thursday evening. The local lawyers had refused to represent them in the court and staged a massive protest.
The police have also seized the getaway motorcycle (registration number: RJ27 AS 2611) said to be owned by Attari.
“The findings so far have indicated to the role of a local group. Some of the suspects had links with a Pakistan-based organisation. However, it is yet not clear if the outfit was directly involved in the killing in any way,” said an official privy to the case.
It is learnt that several others are currently being quizzed to zero in on all the conspirators and facilitators. Among them is one Nazim, who earlier ran a tailor shop just in front of the victim’s and on whose complaint, the police had registered a case against Kanhaiyya Lal on June 11 for the post on his Facebook page. Thereafter, as alleged, the victim’s photograph was circulated in several WhatsApp groups.
On Friday, thousands of devotees participated in the seven-km-long Jagannath Yatra even as an uneasy calm prevailed in the city. More than 2,000 security personnel, under the supervision of senior police officers, were deployed along the Yatra route to maintain the law and order. Special arrangements were made in the sensitive areas. Besides, about 1,000 volunteers were provided by the organisers for assistance.
Earlier, the district administration held talks with the representatives of both the communities to ensure peace. The Yatra was taken out after a gap of two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kanhaiya Lal’s helper Ishwar Singh, who had suffered severe head injuries in the attack, is recuperating in a hospital. The tailor’s another helper named Rajkumar, who had been working at the shop for the past over seven years, told The Hindu that he was also at the spot when the killers struck on June 28. “I have given my statement to the police... I had never seen the two assailants earlier at the shop,” he said.
Stating that he was rendered jobless after Kanhaiya Lal’s murder, Mr. Rajkumar said: “I also worked as a part-time food delivery man. However, being an eyewitness, I now fear for my life. For how long the police will provide me protection?... following several requests by Kanhaiya Lal, two policemen had been deployed at the shop, but they had left after just two days...eventually he was murdered,” he said.
The eyewitness said the State administration, which had promised monitory assistance to the family of the deceased and Ishwar Singh, should also take measures to rehabilitate him.
