The National Investigation Agency on Thursday filed a chargesheet against 11 people in the brutal murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli.
Riyaz Attari and Mohammad Ghous beheaded Kanhaiya over his Facebook post supporting suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s contentious remarks on Prophet Mohammad in June. The duo filmed the murder act on their mobile phones and circulated the clip on social media. They then threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi while posing with the knife used in the crime. The duo was arrested hours after the murder.
The NIA has chargesheeted the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
According to NIA chargesheet, the probe pointed to a conspiracy by 11 accused who were a part of a terror module. They were radicalised and were inspired by incriminating content circulated from within and outside the country.
Attari is also said to be linked to a Karachi-based radical organisation Dawat-e-Islami. He along with co-accused Ghous Mohammed was called to Pakistan by senior functionaries of Dawat in 2014.
Karachi-based Dawat-e-Islami’s mission is to spread the teachings of Quran and Shariah and advocates Shariah globally. It has a massive following in Pakistan and supports the blasphemy law there.
Among the 11 accused is Mohammad Javed, who according to NIA had conducted recce and passed on information about Kanhaiya’s presence at his shop to Riyaz Attari prior to the killing.
Besides Riyaz Attari and Ghous, two Pakistani nationals Salman and Abu Ibrahim have also been chargesheeted.
According to the probe officials, Karachi-based Salman had allegedly instigated Riyaz and Ghous to carry out something ‘spectacular’ to avenge the insult of Prophet.
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