Kanhaiya Lal murder: Two Pakistani nationals named among 11 in NIA chargesheet

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against 11 people, including two Pakistani nationals, in the brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan’s Udaipur about six months ago, an official said.

Kanhaiya Lal, 48, was killed with a cleaver inside his shop on 28 June. The assailants claimed they hacked Lal to death to avenge an alleged insult to Islam.

The killing and circulation of its video were to create panic and terror amongst the masses across the country, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

The case was initially registered at Dhanmandi Police Station in Udaipur district of Rajasthan and was later re-registered by the NIA.

The accused persons are Mohammad Riyaz Attari, Mohammad Gos, Mohsin Khan alias Bhai, Asif Hussain, Mohammad Mohsin, Vasim Ali, Farhad Mohammad Sheikh, Mohammed Javed, Muslim Khan alias Muslim Raza. They all are residents of Rajasthan’s Udaipur.

Apart from them, two others are Salman and Abu Ibrahim. They are residents of Pakistan’s Karachi.

The NIA said that the investigations have revealed that the accused persons, operating as a terror gang module, conspired to take revenge.

“The accused were radicalized and took inspiration from incriminating audios/videos/messages being circulated from within and outside India,” the NIA said.

As per the investigation agency, the accused arranged deadly knives or arms and murdered Kanhaiya Lal in reaction to his Facebook Post and attacked a co-worker in his shop in broad daylight.

“They made a video of the killing, released and made it viral. They also shot another threatening video with the intention of striking terror among the people of India,” the NIA said in a statement.

The accused persons have been chargesheeted under sections 120B, 449, 302, 307, 324, 153(A), 153(B), 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 16, 18 and 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 4/25 (1B) (b) of Arms Act.

“Investigations have revealed that the accused persons, operating as a terror gang-module, conspired to take revenge (against the alleged remarks of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Muhammad).

“The accused were radicalized and took inspiration from incriminating audios/videos/messages being circulated from within and outside India,” the spokesperson said.

The NIA said the accused arranged deadly knife and murdered Lal in reaction to his Facebook post and attacked a co-worker in his shop in broad daylight.

“They made a video of the killing, released and made it viral. They also shot another threatening video with the intentions of striking terror among the people of India,” the official said.

The spokesperson said further investigations in the case are in progress.

With inputs from agencies

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