On the afternoon of 28th June 2022, 2 Muslim assailants walked into a Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal’s shop posing as customers and beheaded him for a post supporting Nupur Sharma. After the brutal beheading, the investigation of the case was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
According to a report by CNN News 18, the NIA is now probing the links between the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur and other murders in Gujarat and Maharashtra that were done in the name of “blasphemy” by Islamists.
There have been several recent cases where Islamists have unleashed violence and mayhem on the streets of India after they claimed that their sentiments were hurt by comments about Islam and Prophet Muhammad. Only recently, it was reported that in Maharashtra, on 21st June, a medical professional Umesh Kolhe was beheaded by Islamists for a post that supported former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Before that, on 25th January, Kishan Bharwad was also murdered by 2 Islamists, Shabbir and Imtiaz. Kishan had shared a video which showed an image of Prophet Muhammad. Muslims firmly believe that the visual depiction of Muhammad is forbidden. Islamists believe that such a visual depiction is blasphemy and an ‘insult’ to Muhammad, and the beheading of the one who blasphemed is an appropriate punishment. Kishan had almost immediately started getting death threats.
“A mob of 500-1000 Muslim people reached police station and demanded action against Kishan. They filed police complaint and Kishan and I went to the police station. The mob then beat up Kishan. Some policemen also joined in in beating him up. They demanded Kishan apologises. So he apologised. We gave written apology as well as video apology,” his father said.
The mob came back unsatisfied with the action taken and filed another FIR. Kishan was arrested by the police and got bail the next day. Soon after he got bail, he was on his way to see his newborn child when the Jihadis murdered him. The case of Kishan Bharwad is also being investigated by the NIA along with ATS.
While the NIA is now trying to find a link between these brutal murders by Islamists, it has now emerged that the two Jihadis who killed Kanhaiya Lal may have had a handler who asked them to behead Lal ISIS-style and not shoot him. They were reportedly also instructed to capture the murder on video and make it viral so it strikes fear in the heart of Hindus.
Plan to kill a businessman in Udaipur
arly investigations, according to the report, have shown that the murders of Kanhaiya Lal, Mohammed Riyaz, and Mohammed Gaus had intended to kill a businessman in Udaipur who had shared a post on social media supporting Nupur Sharma. On June 7, businessman Nitin Jain admitted to unintentionally sharing a post with Nupur Sharma’s reference. A complaint was also filed against him for disturbing the communal harmony, and he was detained by police.
Since June 9, 7 people were conducting Recce at his establishment on a regular basis. On June 11, these terrorists planned to execute Nitin. However, out of fear, Nitin stopped visiting the shop and moved away from Udaipur to another city.
Bike with number plate 2611
Gaus and Riyaz had arrived on a motorcycle to assassinate Kanhaiya Lal. Interestingly, the bike’s licence plate had the shocking number 2611, the date of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Both had left the bike at a street corner 70 metres away from the shop of Kanhaiya Lal so that they could quickly flee after killing him.
Following the murder, both took the bike and rode it to a garage in Devgarh. Both had intended to stay there, but the garage owner refused. Following that, both of them hopped on the bike and headed toward Ajmer. They intended to escape to Ajmer, but the police apprehended both of them beforehand. The bike is now in police custody.
WhatsApp group to continue killings
During the inquiry, it was discovered that Riyaz and Gauss were on their way to Ajmer to record the third video linked to the assassination. Both intended for the third video to become viral after the murder in order to induce terror. The NIA is investigating where and with whom the two planned to stay in Ajmer.
Riyaz and Gauss had many WhatsApp connections with the youth. They hoped that if the police apprehended them after killing Kanhaiya Lal, other accomplices would continue to kill those who supported Nupur Sharma in the same way, which is why they recorded a video to urge their accomplices before killing Kanhaiya Lal. Riyaz stated in the video that he will be captured, but that the killings should continue.
