Amravati: Policemen deployed to maintain law and order after the murder of chemist Umesh Kolh on June 21
Highlight
- Amravati Police found ink between social media posts on the murder of Nupur Sharma and Umesh
- Chemist mistakenly shared a post in a WhatsApp group in which some Muslims were also members
- The incident took place a week before Kanhaiya Lal’s murder of two people in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Amaravati murder: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken into custody all the seven accused in the murder of Amaravati-based chemist Umesh Kolhe, a police official said on Tuesday. All the accused were sent on a four-day transit remand on Monday after being produced in the Amravati court.
The accused are likely to be produced before the NIA court in Mumbai on or before July 8, the official said.
Police Commissioner Arti Singh said on Monday that the Amravati Police had found ink during the investigation between social media posts supporting the murder of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and Umesh and the matter was not suppressed.
He said that considering the “extremely sensitive” nature of the murder case and to avoid any untoward incident, the police did not disclose the information earlier.
The seven are Mudassar Ahmed (22), Shahrukh Pathan (25), Abdul Tawfiq (24), Shoaib Khan (22), Atib Rashid (22) and Yusuf Khan (32) and the alleged mastermind Sheikh Irfan Sheikh Rahim.
Police are looking for another suspect in the case, Shamim Ahmed.
What happened in Amravati?
A fifty-year-old chemist, identified as Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe, was stabbed to death in Maharashtra’s Amravati city, with police suspecting that the accused committed the crime as the victim allegedly posted a post on a social messaging platform in support of had shared. Nupur Sharma, whose remarks on Prophet Mohammad led to nationwide protests and global condemnation.
The accused in the case have been arrested.
The incident happened a week before two men were killed with a cleaver at a tailor’s Kanhaiya Lal’s shop in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, and before the video was posted online saying they were avenging insults to Islam.
Kolhe used to run a medical store in Amravati city. He had reportedly shared a post on some WhatsApp groups in support of Nupur Sharma’s comments. An official of City Kotwali police station said that he mistakenly shared the post in a WhatsApp group in which some Muslims including his customers were members.
After that one Irrfan Khan conspired to eliminate Kolhe and involved five people in it. He promised to give them Rs 10,000 and escape safely in a car, he said.
The incident took place between 10 pm and 10.30 pm on June 21, when Kolhe was going home on a two-wheeler after closing his shop, he said, adding that his son Sanket (27) and wife Vaishnavi were with him in a separate vehicle.
“When they reached near the gate of the all-women’s college, two men on a motorbike came from behind and blocked the way for Kolha. A youth got off the motorcycle and hit Kolha’s neck with a sharp weapon and fled from the spot. She was covered in blood. Sanket took her to the hospital, where she died.”
The police have confiscated the knife used in the incident and have obtained CCTV footage which has captured the sequence of events.
(with inputs from PTI)