The tranquilly that prevailed in the quiet town of Amravati in Maharashtra was shattered on the dreadful night of 21 June 2022, when bloodthirsty Islamists brutally hacked chemist Umesh Kolhe, 54, to death while he was on his way back home after shutting his store.
Kolhe was mercilessly murdered for sharing a social media post supporting former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s alleged ‘blasphemous’ remark about Prophet Muhammad on May 26 sparked outrage amongst Islamists in India and worldwide. Her decision to merely quote an excerpt from the Islamic Hadith during a TV show proved catastrophic for her political career and mental peace after AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair dog-whistled about her comments to Islamists.
This set off a series of incidents culminating in a constant barrage of threats at Sharma and attacks on those who dared to speak out in her support, many of which were extremely brutal. Notably, Umesh Kolhe was one such several Hindus who fell prey to the ire of Jihadis for extending support to Nupur Sharma.
What did Umesh Kolhe’s post-mortem report reveal
According to reports, Islamists had stabbed Kolhe on the left side of his neck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, and the pharmacist succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
The postmortem report of Amravati chemist Umesh Kolhe revealed that his brain vein was damaged due to the knife attack. Besides, his breathing tube, oesophagus, and nerves of his eyes were also damaged in this attack. The wound found on Umesh’s neck was five inches wide, seven inches long and five inches deep.
The CCTV footage reveals recce
After the murder, when the police started the investigation, they got some CCTV footage before the incident. In the video, three accused dressed in black are seen doing recce of the place. In another footage, the three accused are seen heading toward the spot to execute the murder.
The police had made misleading claims
The police had also come under scanner in the Amravati murder case. The police were accused of deliberately describing the hate crime as a robbery killing and concealing that the reason for the murder was a post in support of Nupur Sharma, while the Maharashtra ATS was already investigating the case from the terror angle. Police had claimed that it was a robbery case gone wrong, as the accused had killed Kolhe after he refused to give them anything. But this claim was questioned by many, including Maharashtra BJP leaders, because the accused have no past criminal records, and they didn’t take anything from Kolhe after attacking him. Umesh Kolhe was carrying around Rs 3000 cash and had his phone with him, which was found at the crime scene.
The brutal murder of Umesh Kolhe sent shockwaves throughout the country. Seeing the seriousness of the matter Union HM Amit Shah handed the probe of the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
On July 2 last year, the NIA re-registered the case and took over the investigation. The case was registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Sections 16, 18, and 20 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34, 153 (A), 153 (B), 120 (B), and 302.
In August 2022, the NIA arrested two more accused in the case. The duo was identified as 23-year-old Abdul Arbaz and 41-year-Maulavi Mushfique Ahmad. The other arrested accused in the case include Irfan Khan (35), Yusuf Khan (44), Muddsir Ahmad (22), Shahrukh Pathan (25), Abdul Thoufique (24) Shoaib Khan (22), and Atib Rashid (22).
On September 12, the NIA declared a monetary reward of Rs 2 lakh to anyone who would provide leading information to arrest the absconding accused Shameem Ahmed. On September 22 it was reported that NIA arrested the absconding killer from Mumbai.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) received a 90-day extension from a special court in the same month to submit the charge sheet in the case, which the agency did on December 16.
NIA filed chargesheet against 11 Islamists in Umesh Kolhe murder case
On December 16, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), investigating the murder case of Amravati’s pharmacist Umesh Kolhe, filed a chargesheet in the Mumbai NIA court against the 11 arrested accused.
Those named in the charge sheet are Mubashir Ahmed, Shahrukh Khan, Abdul Tausheef Sheikh, Mohd Shoeb, Atib Rashid, Yusuf Khan, Irfan Khan, Abdul Arbaz, Musfeeq Ahmed, Sheikh Shakeel, and Shahim Ahmed.
According to the charge sheet, the 11 accused hatched a conspiracy, acquired the murder weapon, plotted their strategy so that the pharmacist’s whereabouts could be traced, and then premeditatedly killed him.
As the investigations in the Umesh Kolhe murder case in Amravati of Maharashtra progressed, it was revealed in the police investigation that Dr Yusuf Khan, the eldest of the arrested accused instigated all the murderers for this murder.
Dr. Yusuf Khan was a good friend of Umesh Kolhe who had helped him many times. Dr Yusuf Khan was the admin of the WhatsApp group in which Umesh Kolhe had shared a post supporting former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, which led to his murder.
Umesh Kolhe’s murderers were all closely related, as several of them worked with an NGO run by the key conspirator Sheikh Irfan, who has been identified as the mastermind behind the crime.
Dr Yusuf Khan, friend of Umesh Kolhe, was the instigator
Veterinary doctor Yusuf Khan and chemist Umesh Kolhe knew each other for the past several years, and they were good friends. Yusuf Khan often sought help from Umesh Kolhe who seldom disappointed his friend. He used to lend money to Yusuf Khan in hours of need. Umesh Kolhe had helped Dr Yusuf Khan at the time of his sister’s wedding and his children’s admissions too. Despite such good relations, Dr Yusuf Khan conspired to kill Umesh Kolhe.
Dr Yusuf Khan is the eldest among the arrested accused. He was supposed to keep a watch on viral messages on social media and identify the targets. He was the admin of the group called Black Freedom in which Umesh Kolhe had shared a post supporting Nupur Sharma. Dr Yusuf Khan shared this information with another group called Rahebariya and informed his friends Sheikh Irrfan and others, and created hatred in their minds for Umesh Kolhe.
Sheikh Irrfan planned the attack on Umesh Kolhe
After Dr Yusuf Khan spread hatred against Umesh Kolhe, Sheikh Irfan came into action. He planned the murder. He gave the responsibility of recce to Maulana Mudassir Ahmed alias Sonu Raza Sheikh Ibrahim. After this, Sheikh Irfan involved daily wage workers in this plan. They included Shahrukh Pathan (age 25), Abdul Taufiq (age 24), Shoaib Khan alias Bhurya (age 22), and Atib Rashid (age 22). On the night of June 21, Shoaib stabbed Umesh Kolhe in his neck. None of these four criminals has any past criminal record.
Irfan resided in the Pathan Chowk Chawl in the Kamela Area. His neighbours said that he was a welder but the epidemic caused problems for his welding business. Irfan ran a registered NGO called Rahebar that worked for differently-abled according to its Facebook page. The four daily wage workers he chose to execute the murder had previously volunteered for this NGO.
Accused were members of Tablighi Jamaat, were highly influenced by the ideology of ‘Gustakh-E-Nabi Ki Ek Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda’: NIA
The NIA chargesheet stated that the accused were radicalized members of Tablighi Jamaat. The officials also said that the accused were persuaded by two ‘social activists’ identified as Irfan Khan and Maulavi Mushfique Ahmad.
The accused were also highly influenced by the ideology of “Gustakh-E-Nabi Ki Ek Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda.” (Beheading is the only punishment for anyone who criticizes the Prophet), the chargesheet stated.
The investigating agency had revealed that this was the second attempt of the radicalized group to murder the pharmacist. The first attempt was made on June 20, 2022, and failed.
On June 20, the accused were to eliminate him when he was leaving for his medical shop. The strategy, however, failed when Kolhe did not show up. After this, Irfan developed another strategy and formed a spy unit to monitor Kolhe’s movements to execute their conspiracy. On the night of June 20, the gang then reconvened with other accused, including Shaikh Shakil, Abdul Arbaz Mudassir Ahmed, Abdul Taufeeque Shaikh, and Atib, to replan Kolhe’s murder.
The plan to eliminate Kolhe began with one of the accused Dr Yusuf Khan propagating a post by Kolhe on one of the social media groups named ‘black freedom’ on June 14. According to the NIA, Yusuf purposefully took screenshots of the message after altering Kolhe’s phone number and disseminated it in another group called “Kalim Ibrahim,” which was founded by Irfan and others. The NIA asserted that the plan to kill Kolhe began with the dissemination of texts.
Kolhe was a ‘Law-abiding Citizen’
Kolhe was described by the NIA as a “law-abiding citizen” who had no adverse history of conflicts with anyone, let alone the accused in particular.
“He exercised his right to free speech in a free country and declared his support to the alleged controversial remarks of Sharma. His execution is not a simple act of murder carried out intending to merely punish him for an alleged blasphemy so committed.
“It is an act of terror, by a gang of radicalised men who wanted to make an example out of the victim’s murder. It was done in a manner that shall send shivers down the spine of the general population of this peace-loving democratic country, who would never dare to speak up, for what they think is right or wrong,” NIA said.
The NIA highlighted the brutality of killing a father in front of his son in a public place, adding that the act was carried out “with proper planning” and that “celebrating the act with an intention to strike terror in a large section of society is, to say the least, a terrorist action.”
The murder sparked riots in several locations, terrorised some into quitting their jobs, forced many to hide, and made many people fear for their safety and lives. According to the NIA, such terrorist activity has called India’s integrity and tenacity into question.
According to the NIA, the beheading of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal, who was killed in his shop by two Islamist fundamentalists on June 28 over the same issue of supporting BJP leader Nupur Sharma, occurred a week after Kolhe’s murder.
The two Islamists who had killed Kanhaiya Lal later made a video and even released it online. After the murder, several communal clashes broke out in various states, leading to the registration of multiple FIRs.
According to the NIA, the same ideology of some religiously radicalised individuals was present in all the FIRs, and the same “Sar Tan Se Juda” slogan terrorised those who supported ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and advocated for free speech.
Besides Umesh Khole and Kanhaiya Lal, several other people were also murdered or brutally assaulted by Jihadis for extending support to Nupur Sharma. Here is our article detailing those incidents.