After the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair by the Delhi Police Special Cell, the investigation officers said in a statement that the donations made to the Alt News website would also be probed. Hindustan Times quoted an unnamed officer investigating the case saying that they were looking into donations to the website as some of those were allegedly made from ‘across the border’.
Earlier, Delhi Police said in a statement that transactions worth 50 lakh were done from Zubair’s account in the last few days. Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha had rebutted the allegations by Delhi Police and called it a lie. He claimed he had Zubair’s account statements to “debunk” the claims.
The Delhi Police officer said there will be an investigation into who was making the donations and “if they’re from across the border. We’ll also see if the donations are not being used to convert black money into white.” In the second part of the investigation, the Police will investigate the ‘social media brigade that Zubair has’. The Police officer said, “It appears that his tweets are planned and pushed in a concerted manner. They are amplified by an army of people. If these are bots, then who is paying these bots. We are digging deep into this network that amplifies his tweets.”
Delhi Police has also alleged that Zubair has not been cooperating in the investigation. He had refused to hand over his electronic devices and also brought a formatted phone without any apps. Countering the allegations, Zubair’s lawyer claimed that he had lost his phone, and it was communicated to the Police. “The mobile phone he has is a new one, and police are aware of aware of the matter,” she claimed.
The arrest of Mohammed Zubair
Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police under Sections 295 and 153A. He was sent to four-day police remand. Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO)’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) KPS Malhotra said formatting gadgets and non-cooperation in the investigation became the ground for his arrest.
From June 27 to June 29, 100 tweets went missing from the Twitter account (@zoo_bear) of the co-founder of propaganda website AltNews, Mohammed Zubair. Notably, 88 of the 100 tweets went missing on June 28 when Zubair was in Police custody. Earlier on June 20, he had deleted 28 tweets.
While seeking remand, Delhi Police categorically said that Zubair had deleted electronic evidence and presented a blank phone when asked to produce the electronic devices. It is virtually not possible for Zubair to access any electronic device while in Police custody, and it is unclear how the tweets were deleted from his account and by whom.
The change in number was reported by the Twitter user The Hawk Eye. In a tweet, he wrote, “BIG: Md Zubair DELETED 101 tweets in the last 3 days, (88 on 28-Jun only). On June 20 he deleted at least 28 tweets. With NO access to gadgets under police remand, how its possible? Who did it? Isn’t a clear case of evidence tampering?”
BIG: Md Zubair DELETED 101 tweets in the last 3days, (88 on 28-Jun only).
On 20th Jun he deleted at least 28 tweets (below SS)
With NO access to gadgets under police remand, how its possible? Who did it? Isn’t a clear case of evidence tampering? Attn- @DelhiPolice@CPDelhi
OpIndia confirmed that 100 tweets had been deleted in the last three days from his Twitter account. However, the controversial tweets, including the one that was the base of the complaint by Twitter user balajikijaiin, are still intact.
100 Tweets went missing from Zubair’s account. Source: Social Blade
However, in one tweet where he mocked Sanatan Dharma, saying, “Ancient laptops had no processors & RAM. It was later copied by Missionary Mathematician Charles Babbage. Sanskrit learning was essential for computer literacy in those days. Only Virat Hindus could operate computers as lower castes were never allowed to learn Sanskrit,” went missing.
One of Zubair’s tweet that went missing. Source: TheHawkEye/Twitter
Zubair’s Tweets targeting Hindus went viral
On June 13 and June 14, several netizens dug out Zubair’s tweets targeting Hindus after he deleted his Facebook account. He had deleted his Facebook account after several of his posts went viral on social media platforms where he had targeted Hindus. It is unclear if he has deleted the Facebook account for good or deactivated it for now.
The arrest of Mohammed Zubair
Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police after a Twitter user ‘balajikijaiin’ put up a screenshot of his post mocking Bhagwan Hanuman.
A case was lodged against him on the basis of a complaint by the Twitter user ‘@balajikijaiin’. While tagging the Delhi police, the user had pointed out how Zubair was deliberately linking Honeymoon with brahmachari Lord Hanuman from an old movie clip.
Delhi Police in its statement in the court said Zubair did not cooperate in the investigation and also alleged he formatted that phone. The Police also alleged they found transactions worth 50 lakh from his bank account in the last few days. He was sent to four-day Police custody by a Delhi Court.
On June 28, a Hindu man named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally beheaded in Udaipur for an alleged post on social media in support of former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nupur Sharma. The murderers shot a video of the incident and published it on social media. In this video, the killers said that Kanhaiya Lal was killed because he had insulted Prophet Muhammad.
Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor by profession, was killed inside his shop. The killers entered the shop posing as customers and then killed him. In October 2019, Hindutva leader Kamlesh Tiwari, too, was murdered over ‘blasphemy’ charges by Islamists. He had been facing death threats since a few years and had even written to police for protection. During the investigation it was revealed that one of the main accused, Ashfaq, had created a fake Facebook profile to befriend the Tiwari. The fake profile was in name of ‘Rohit Solanki’.
Ashfaq used this fake Facebook ID to have close conversations with Kamlesh Tiwari. Before the murder, Ashfaq had a conversation with Kamlesh Tiwari on the phone when he stated his wish to join the Hindu organisation Tiwari was part of. The meeting between Kamlesh Tiwari and Ashfaq was fixed after the conversation.
After fixing a meeting with Kamlesh Tiwari, Ashfaq reached the leader’s office and spoke with him for about half an hour. The accused then attacked the Hindu Samaj Party leader after sending Swarajjit Singh out to bring cigarettes.The Islamists were wearing saffron coloured outfits to perhaps deceive Tiwari and make it appear like it was an internal feud and not a preplanned conspiracy by Islamists.
What is Taqiyya and how it is used by Islamists?
Al-Taqiyya, or simply Taqiyya, is a term from the Quran, the holy book of Islam. It is derived from the verb “Ittaqu,” which means to lie, mislead, manipulate and create illusions for an ‘enemy of Islam’ when being persecuted. Except, in today’s day and age, it has been used by Islamists and their apologists to deceive ‘kafirs’ (non-believers of Islam) into believing they are a well-wisher only to stab them in the back (figuratively) or behead them (literally).
We’ve seen in above two cases how the Islamists have used deception as a tool (posing as customer and Hindu on Facebook to befriend Hindutva leader) to come close to the victim and then eventually kill them. In fact, during the December 2019 anti-CAA protests that had gone violent and culminated into anti-Hindu riots in February 2020, The Wire ‘journalist’ Arfa Khanum Sherwani, also an apologist of radical Islam, was heard suggesting a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University where she suggested the ‘protestors’ change their strategy and ‘appear inclusive’ and not ‘Muslim’.
She had said, “You read your Kalmas, do the Ibadat, Indian constitution is still present in that manner. But when you come out in the public, no doubt, you are a Muslim. At least for some time, we must steer clear of religious sloganeering. Do Ibadat at home. But when you decide to protest as a Muslim, that you want to look like a Muslim, you want to speak like a Muslim, you want to have all religious slogans in the protests, then you lose the battle. We are not compromising with our ideology but are changing our strategy.”
None of these people needed to hide their identity or rather pretend to be someone else. The killers of Kamlesh Tiwari and Kanhaiya Lal did it because that helped them further their intention to murder the victims in the name of Allah, thereby getting one step closer to Jannah, the mythological paradise ‘righteous’ Muslim will go after death and an Islamist believes beheading the ones who have blasphemed against Prophet Muhammad will make them ‘righteous’.
Riyaz Jabbar and Gaus Mohammed, the main accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case of Udaipur, are in the police custody. According to reports, accused Riyaz Jabbar has a history of inciting the people for outrage. It has come to light that even in the past, the murder accused Riyaz created a large network to instigate the public sentiments in the surrounding areas of Udaipur and Bhilwara. Though Riyaz’s family members have condemned his actions, their main focus looked to be that of alienating themselves from the accused. According to the family members, he is in no way connected to the family for the last twenty years.
Riyaz Jabbar is a resident of Asind in Bhilwara who left his home 20 years ago and moved to Udaipur. According to his family, they don’t know where did Riyaz Jabbar live all these years, when and whom did he marry and what did he do for his livelihood. Meanwhile, Riyaz Jabbar had built a large network in Udaipur where he used to instigate the people on various issues.
Riyaz Jabbar burnt an effigy of a policeman
According to sources, it was the same Riyaz Jabbar who had burnt an effigy of a policeman an year ago over a minor dispute. Last year Riyaz Jabbar created a ruckus in the Hathipole police station area. As the police force reached the spot to control the situation, Riyaz Jabbar started quarrelling with the policemen. While calming him down, an assistant sub inspector of police unknowingly touched Riyaz Jabbar’s beard. Riyaz Jabbar was so enraged over this incident, that he gathered a mob of hundreds within a few minutes and burnt an effigy of the policeman there.
The family keeps a safe distance
After Kanhaiya Lal’s murder in Udaipur, a heavy police force is deployed near Riyaz Jabbar’s home in Asind. According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, the accused Riyaz’s elder brother Abdul Ayyub Lohar said, “Riyaz is the 10th sibling amongst us. I am the second. In 2001, our elder sister passed away, after which Riyaz moved to Udaipur and stayed there. He worked there and he married there. I don’t exactly know what was his job.”
Abdul Ayyub Lohar further said, “We did not have any communication for the last 20-22 years. Last night I came to know that he did this (Kanhaiya Lal’s murder). He has done a wrong act. The law will punish to the one who commits a crime. It is wrong to do such an act in the name of religion. Even though he is our brother, he will get punishment for the crime. He was not like this, when he used to live with us. We don’t know who influenced him after moving to Udaipur. He did not contact the family after that. We don’t know whom did he marry.”
The other murder accused Gaus Mohammad
Riyaz Jabbar and Gaus Mohammad together went to Kanhaiya Lal’s shop and beheaded him for supporting Nupur Sharma’s alleged insulting remarks on the Prophet Muhammad. Gaus Mohammad is a resident of Udaipur. He lives in a rented house in the Khanjipeer area. Gaus Mohammad works as a welder in Udaipur. He is also ivolved in property dealings. He is a close associate of Riyaz Jabbar for the last many years.
Kanhaiya Lal’s gruesome murder by Islamists in Udaipur has triggered unrest in Rajasthan. A police constable named Sandeep has sustained serious injuries in Rajsamand when a person from the mob he was trying to control suddenly attacked him with a sharp weapon on Wednesday 29th June 2022.
The policeman sustained serious injuries and he was referred to a hospital in Ajmer immediately.
Situations in Rajsamand were tense just like those in Udaipur when the Bhim police station staff arrested the two accused who were on the run after killing Kanhaiya Lal on Tuesday 28th June 2022. A video of the arrest was also released. Soon after the arrest, a large group of people started protesting. Even on Wednesday, the crowd started to gather in big numbers in the morning and they eventually took a form of a rally.
At around 2 pm, the crowd was protesting in the Bhim police station area of Rajsamand, which the police were constantly trying to control. In the meantime, one of the men from the mob stabbed constable Sandeep on the neck with a sharp weapon. The constable was immediately referred to Ajmer in an injured condition. According to reports, his condition is serious.
It is notable here that the murderers of Kanhaiya Lal named Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Gos Mohammed had fled to Rajsamand after killing the tailor inside his shop in Udaipur on Tuesday. They were arrested by the police from Rajsamand soon after the incident. The killers had filmed the act and had later made another video where they were seen brandishing their knives and declaring that they want to kill PM Modi in a similar manner.
Kanhaiya Lal was cremated on Wednesday, June 29. A large number of people were present for the last rites. Kanhaiya Lal was a tailor in Udaipur who was beheaded on Tuesday, June 28 by two Islamists for supporting Nupur Sharma’s allegedly insulting remarks against the Prophet Muhammad.
On 28 June 2022, social media websites were awash with a gut-wrenching video of a Hindu man, Kanhaiya Lal, being beheaded by two Islamists for supporting former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma after religious zealots, instigated by Mohammed Zubair, targeted her for her remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
In the horrific crime that has emerged following the Nupur Sharma controversy, it has been learnt that the incident took place near the Bhoot Mahal on Maldas Street in Udaipur. The victim who is a tailor and proprietor of Supreme tailors was killed in broad daylight amidst the hustle-bustle on the adjoining road. The Udaipur Police rushed to the scene after the enraged merchants in the surrounding area complained of the inhumane incident.
In the video posted by Delhi BJP politician Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, it could be seen that one Muslim man entered the victim’s shop as a customer while the other was possibly shooting the video. While the tailor was taking the man’s body measurements, he grabbed his neck and attacked him from the back. After this, the man started hitting the tailor, with the victim pleading with him to let him go.
Mohammad killed tailor in Udaipur,Rajasthan for Supporting Nupur Sharma on his Facebook Status. Mohammad said he wants to Kill PM Modi. This is the result of @ashokgehlot51 Muslim appeasement and anti Hindu policies,today Hindus are unsafe in Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/Lhoa0jYQ4C
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) June 28, 2022
The gruesome video of Islamists murdering Kanhaiya Lal in cold blood sent shivers down the spine of viewers and evoked feelings of horror and anger among those who could not bring themselves to believe what they were viewing with their eyes. The video showed that the Islamist barbarity was not a result of the spur-of-the-moment rage but an outcome of a cold, calculated plan aimed at silencing those who dared something as innocuous as extending one’s support to the beleaguered ex-BJP leader.
Soon after the video went viral on the internet, many social media users, including journalists and left-leaning liberals, tried to water down the incident by understating the impact of Mohammed Zubair’s dog-whistling and the inherent radicalisation among the Muslim community that brought the situation to pass.
In their efforts at whitewashing the horrifying atrocity and laying claim to the moral high ground, they made platitudinous appeals to their followers on social media to not view the incident from a religious prism and condemn the act of terrorism, which they claimed had no religion. Intriguingly, they also asked people not to watch or circulate the video of Lal’s murder, citing the blood-curdling content of the clips to make their case.
Even law enforcement officials partook in this exercise to dissuade people from watching the video and encouraged them against their circulation. A Rajasthan police official warned against watching the video, stating that it was too grisly to watch. Several appeals were made on Twitter and other social media platforms, including by well-meaning folks who demanded justice for the Hindu man. But they, too, requested their followers to abstain from sharing and circulating the gory video of Lal’s murder.
The appeals against the circulation of the Kanhaiya Lal beheading video are meant to downplay the extent of Islamism plaguing the society
As requests asking people not to share Kanhaiya Lal’s beheading are made, it is worth noting what the gruesome clips reveal and what limiting their circulation would achieve. The videos, in essence, illustrate that Islamic terror attacks are no longer limited to well-trained terrorists wielding sophisticated weapons but even seemingly ordinary citizens brainwashed with supremacist beliefs and religious zealotry are capable of matching them in their barbarity.
The attack on Kanhaiya Lal and the savagery with which it was committed busts myths about the equality of all religions. For far too long, the propagandists and apologists of Islamists have peddled the straw man of “All religions are equal” to shield Islamists and whitewash religiously motivated crimes.
But the brutal beheading of Kanhaiya Lal by Islamists egged on by the incendiary dog-whistling from Mohammed Zubair puts paid to the propaganda and brings to the fore a stark reality that all religions are not equal and one particular religion is an outlier whose followers feel no qualms in espousing violence and murdering adherents of other religions over alleged ‘blasphemy’ against their faith.
The apologists and propagandists do not want Hindus and others to know that the Islamist next door might behead them at the slightest ‘provocation’ or after being incited over ‘blasphemy’. It is for this reason that they are appealing against watching the videos of Kanhaiya Lal’s beheading, which showed how Islamists, egged on by religious fanaticism, killed the Hindu tailor for simply extending his support to Nupur Sharma.
Pictures and visuals have a powerful agency to stir a collective conscience and the Left wants to rob Hindus of this agency
The apologists of Islamists do not want Hindus to wake up from their slumber and take cognisance of the threat facing them. They want Hindus to remain oblivious to the danger posed by the Islamists as the awakening could mobilise Hindus and prove catastrophic to their political relevance.
Pictures and visuals have a powerful impact on the psyche of people. They possess the ability to stir public opinion and shake the collective conscience of the society, which is why the drowned image of a Syrian kid or the picture of a man pleading with folded hands were so widely shared across platforms.
The spine-chilling video of Kanhaiya Lal’s egregious beheading stands to expose the religious zealotry of the Islamists and their readiness to kill non-Muslims over alleged ‘blasphemy’. The Islamists are literally waiting for incitement to unleash their murderous zeal on non-Muslims and Kafirs. The apologists of such Islamists do not want Hindus to reckon with the unfortunate reality of Islamic fundamentalism that has slowly but steadily gnawed away at the country’s plural ethos. For these reasons, they are continuously imploring people against the circulation of the video, for the video has the potential to marshal Hindus in a way that no other means can and bring a realisation of the threats lurking in their neighbourhood.
On April 10, 2022, during the year’s Ram Navami celebrations, Khargone in Madhya Pradesh came under vicious attack by Islamists, who pelted stones and indulged in arson and violence. The cops had resorted to firing tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. During the events of violence, a total of 24 people were injured, including six police personnel. Even the Superintendent of Police (Khargone) Siddharth Chaudhary has sustained bullet injuries.
The state administration sprung into action after the brutal attack on the Hindus taking part in the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra. While the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced financial assistance to the people who lost their homes in the Khargone riots, the police started rounding up the Islamists who had unleashed mayhem on the streets during this year’s Ram Navami celebrations. The illegally constructed buildings were bulldozed by the administration, who also took l other measures to prevent further escalations.
In one such preventive measure, the Khargone administration erected barricades and constructed walls in some sensitive areas where Islamists had run riots on April 10th, 2022. The government’s decision was taken purely from a security perspective, primarily to maintain peace in the riot-hit area and to avert further friction between the communities.
The leftist media, however, was quick to use this measure taken by the authorities to spin a narrative to disparage the BJP government in the state. With their dramatic articles with exaggerated headlines, the far-left media houses deftly twisted the state administration’s decision to make it appear completely anti-Muslim.
Propaganda media gives a different twist
Soon after the administration implemented the decision to erect barricades in a few lanes and bylanes to prevent riots, an effort was made to paint the situation in a different light. The Indian Express compared the situation to the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar used another dramatic headline to call out the Madhya Pradesh administration. It read, “Wall of Hate for Peace.” The Times of India gave its article an emotional spin by using a picture of a young boy watching the road from behind a barricade installed in a lane.
“The Wall Dividing Post-Violence Khargone – Delaying Normalcy or Ensuring Peace?” the leftist propaganda news website The Quint headlined its article.
Islamist media outlet “Two Circle,” continued to support the fundamentalists by referring to Muslims in Khargone as prisoners. Furthermore, it blatantly referred to the April 10 riots as “anti-Muslim,” despite the fact that the area’s Hindu population had been attacked by fanatical Islamists.
How the leftist media twisted the Madhya Pradesh govt’s decision taken with an intent to maintain peace
Another Islamist media outfit Maktoob media also published an article with the headline, “Khargone violence: Admin build walls dividing religious settlements”. They too went on to audaciously lie by calling the violence that broke out in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone ‘anti-Muslim’.
Article published by Islamist media outlet Maktoob media
‘We feel safe because of the wall’: a Hindu resident of Khargone speaks to OpIndia
Ashish Pandit, a local of Khargone’s Bhatwadi, a neighbourhood plagued by violence on this year’s Ram Navami, spoke with OpIndia. “I buy and sell used two-wheelers,” he said, further recalling how stones and gas bombs were thrown at his residence on the day of the violence. “My uncle Kailash Pandit’s shop was burned down and plundered. It was a good decision to erect a barricade in the middle of the lane. The same approach, which had been guarded, has been used by the perpetrators not only once, but several times. They enter through small alleyways and then use the same lanes to flee.
There has been violence along those roads in the past
“Violent attacks on our side have escalated over the past few years,” Ashish stated. “Both in 2018 and in 2014, there were violent incidents around Dussehra. The streets that are now blocked off with barricades were utilised during that period. Also, stone-pelting incidents have occurred 2-4 times in the past. The area we (Hindus) live in is right in the middle, encircled on all sides by Muslim-dominated neighbourhoods,” said Ashish.
Erecting barricades does not mean blocking the road: Ashish Pandit, a local of Khargone
Ashish further told OpIndia that “those who are protesting and making a big deal about the government’s decision to erect barricades ought to be aware that just some of the lanes have these barriers in place. For instance, in my neighbourhood, barricades have been placed in only two lanes; nevertheless, other routes are still open and are frequented by individuals from different neighbourhoods.”
How can we buy things from people who stoned out houses, questions Ashish
“The owner of a flour mill who has been cited by numerous media outlets may be the one who owns a store close to the mosque at Talab Chowk, where the riot first started on April 10 and later spread to other areas of the city. Even though his business is still open, many Hindus no longer go there to get their flour milled. How can someone continue doing business with someone who threw stones at their home? No one has instigated anyone, instead, the Hindus who were affected by the violence made this decision on their own,” Ashish told OpIndia.
Islamists entered from the lane which has now been barricaded to plunder and burn down my shop: Khargone Hindu victim
Recalling the horror meted out to the Hindus on April 10, 2022, another Hindu named Kailash, who runs a grocery store called Kaushik grocery in the Bhatwadi mohalla of Khargone, told OpIndia, “The narrow lane which the authorities have now barricaded was the one the rampaging mob of around 150 Islamists had used on the day of the violence to approach my shop. They robbed my shop and set fire to whatever was left,” he said.
Kailash added that “people continued to look on in terror as the Islamists ran riots. Police had to use tear gas to drive them away. We incurred a loss of roughly Rs 7 lakh due to the vandalism and arson carried out by the radicals. I received a Rs 2 lakh compensation from the government. The installation of a gate here is a good decision from our security perspective. In the past also, armed Islamist mobs have used this narrow lane to enter our area and run riots. Now that this barricade is in place, it will stop the mobs from entering our area at their whim and causing mayhem”, said the Hindu victim.
These are mere excuses, many other approach roads are still open
The riots victim Kailash continued, “This is merely a pretext. Several other routes are still open and can be used by individuals to enter the area. The government is keeping an eye on all these entry and exit points, though.
The police officers were stationed in these areas day and night when the violence had occurred, but they cannot be stationed here permanently, he said, recalling how the enraged Islamist mob had later set fire to the homes of three Hindus in his neighbourhood. Now that these barricades have been erected in the narrow lanes that had become the rioters’ preferred route, at least the mobs won’t be able to arrive unexpectedly, and the commotion will now be brought under control, said Kailash, appearing visibly at ease.
We could open our shops only after administration erected these barricades, said a Khargone Hindu resident
The unruly mob set fire to Rajesh alias Raju Pal’s tailoring shop. When speaking to OpIndia, store owner Raju stated, “I had me shop by the name of Mary Ann Tailors, in which merchandise worth roughly 25 lakh rupees was burned to ashes. I received a 2 lakh rupee compensation from the government. From a security perspective, gates have now been installed, which was actually very important. Now, young children may cross it, but a sudden influx of people will be impossible,” said Raju who has been working to rebuild his business by operating from a different shop rather than his own destroyed one since the violence devastated his family.
“It is shameful that some people are advancing their nefarious agenda by using the installation of barricades by the state administration as a tool. This is important for our safety,” lamented the Hindu victim.
List of names of the Islamists accused of burning down Rajesh alias Raju Pal’s tailoring shop
List of names of the Islamists accused of burning down Rajesh alias Raju Pal’s tailoring shop
List of names of the Islamists accused of burning down Rajesh alias Raju Pal’s tailoring shop
Was threatened again after opening the shop: Rajesh alias Raju Pal
Raju Pal continued, “About a dozen Muslims came to threaten me when I reopened my shop. After my shop was set on fire, I named a few accused, which infuriated them. They threatened me, saying even my newly reopened shop wouldn’t last long if I didn’t remove the names of Muslims from the case. Additionally, I reported this incident to the police. The same road where the barricade has now been erected is where those who set my shop on fire had come from. For those residing on that side, there are other alternative routes which can be used.
Raju’s shop that the Islamists set on fire
The routes used during the violence were already marked
Khargone’s district general secretary for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Vivek Singh, asserted that “some specific roads were already marked, from which the Islamist mob came and ran riots on April 10.” Only a few of these roads have been barricaded, but they haven’t been completely blocked off as some media outlets have claimed. Even before this incident, violent rioters were moving between these lanes. Singh added that when the victims of violence were questioned if they were okay with the barricades being placed and whether they thought it was important for their security, they replied that the barricades had been erected in response to demands made by the Hindu victims in the neighbourhood.
BJP leaders opined how barricades are necessary
BJP leaders from Khargone Anoop Goswami and Jignesh Patel concurred that barricades must be erected to ensure the safety of the locals. They affirmed that nobody in the area is against the idea of barriers being built in a few key locations, despite the media’s exaggerated and unjustified portrayal of the community’s opposition to the idea.
The barricades were installed by the municipal administration: Khargone Police
The roadblock and other obstructions were decided upon by the municipal administration rather than the police administration, according to the TI of Khargone Kotwali. When OpIndia spoke to the SP of Khargone, he declined to comment on the matter. The DM office’s phone went unanswered. OpIndia would update the report once the police releases its official statement on the matter.
On Wednesday, the post-mortem report of a deceased Kanhaiya Lal, who was killed by the Islamists in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district revealed that he was attacked 26 times on his body from his neck to shoulder. Kanhaiya Lal, after being attacked with sharp weapons, died due to excessive bleeding.
According to the reports, the deceased was stabbed 7 to 8 times specifically on his neck while he had more than 24 injury marks on his entire body. He was killed by two radical Islamists who have been identified as Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Gos Mohammed. The duo killed Kanhaiya Lal for sharing a social media post in support of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Reports further stated that Kanhaiya’s hand was cut too during the attack. Due to repeated attacks by the sharp weapons, multiple blood vessels in his body had been severed, causing excessive bleeding and death. Images of Kanhaiya Kumar’s body lying in a large pool of blood have been going viral on social media.
Reports mention that the victim was being threatened previously for sharing a social media post in support of Sharma. He continued to receive death threats since his 8-year-old son had accidentally shared the post from Kanhaiya Lal’s mobile.
Reportedly, the Police had also arrested Kanhaiya Lal in the past for his social media post. Even after arresting Kanhaiya Lal, the murderers were threatening to intimidate him and kill him. On this, the victim had informed the Dhanmandi police station and requested protection but the police did not take the matter seriously.
On June 29, the wife of the deceased confirmed that Kanhaiya Lal was being threatened by the Islamists. She said that her husband had stopped going to his tailoring shop due to the continuous death threats. It is on June 28 that he resumed work and was brutally killed by the Islamists.
According to Kanhaiya Lal’s wife, the two radical Islamists had disguised as customers and entered the shop of the deceased. While the 48-year-old was busy taking the measurements, one of the accused attacked him with a large knife. The other one blatantly shot the entire act. Videos of the murder have been viral on social media. The duo had later made another video displaying their knives and declaring that they plan to kill PM Modi too.
Reports mention that the name and location of Kanhaiya Lal was leaked by his neighbour Nazim on WhatsApp who had also filed a complaint against Kanhaiya Lal for his alleged post in support of Nupur Sharma. Nazim on Tuesday made viral the name, photograph, and location of Kanhaiya, making it easy for the murderers to locate him near the Bhoot Mahal on Maldas Street in Udaipur. The two brutal killers were however arrested from the neighbouring district of Rajsamand.
The mortal remains of the deceased arrived at his native place after the post-mortem report. Reportedly, several people joined the funeral procession of Kanhaiya Lal before he was cremated today.
The Police in the case have asked the cyber police stations across the city to intensify social media monitoring and flag posts, images, and videos with the potential to inflame communal tension. The Police have also issued prohibitory orders and have banned gathering of more than four or five persons across the state for a month. Internet services have been suspended for the next 24 hours. The HMO has initiated an NIA investigation in the case.
After the union home ministry handed over the Kanhaiya Lal murder case in Udaipur to the National Investigation Agency, the agency has filed a case against the culprits under several sections of the IPC and UAPA.
The Indian Penal Code sections invoked by the NIA are 452 (House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 302 (murder), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 153B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
Similarly, the sections of stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 attached to the case by the NIA are the sections 16 (terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy), 20 (member of terrorist gang or organisation). With the inclusion of these sections, the NIA has made it clear that they are considering the case as an act of terrorism.
NIA Registers a Case in the Incident of Brutal Murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli in Udaipur, Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/YtI48NHSJy
The NIA says that the case has been filed against the accused who have conspired, planned and committed the heinous murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli on 28th June in Udaipur in Rajasthan.
The agency also informed that the case was initially registered as FIR no 81/2022 at Dhanmandi police station in Udaipur by local police. Now, the NIA has re-registered the case RC-27/2022/NIA/DLI today. NIA states that the two accused, who have been arrested by the police, had inflicted multiple injuries to the victim with sharp weapons. They had also circulated a video of the criminal at in social media claiming responsibility for the murder in order to trigger panic and strike terror among the masses across the country, the agency said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the union home ministry had informed that the case has been handed over to NIA. The ministry had said that the the involvement of any organisation and international links in the murder case will be thoroughly investigated.
Murder of Kanhaiya Lal
On June 28, Hindu man named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered in Udaipur, Rajasthan, over an alleged post in favour of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The post was allegedly made by accident from Kanhaiya Lal’s phone by his 8-years-old son while playing a video game. Earlier Kanhaiya Lal was arrested for making the post after his neighbour Nazim filed a complaint about the same.
After getting released on bail, Kanhaiya Lal started to receive threats. He was threatened not to open his tailoring shop. Kanhaiya Lal had approached Police for legal action against those who were threatening him and requested Police protection so that he could open the shop.
However, the police did nothing to restrain those who were threatening him, and didn’t provide security to Kanhaiya. The police had called them and made them sign a compromise agreement. Kanhaiya Lal then submitted another application on the same day that he did not want legal action following the compromise. Scared for his life, Kanhaiya Lal kept his shop shut for six days. On the 7th day, when he opened his shop, he was brutally murdered by two Islamists identified as Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Mohammed Gos. Notably, Kanhaiya Lal’s photograph, address and other information were distributed by Nazim and others. They had urged their community members to kill Kanhaiya Lal if they see him the open or he opened his shop.
On June 29, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan reacted to the murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a Hindu tailor from Udaipur, by two Islamists. In a statement, Khan said the deeper disease is being ignored despite the symptoms being visible. He pointed out the rampant radicalisation going on inside madrasas and stated, “children studying there are being taught that the punishment for blasphemy is beheading.”
We worry when symptoms come but refuse to notice the deeper disease. Children are being taught in madrassas that punishment for blasphemy is beheading. It’s being taught as the law of God…What’s being taught there should be examined: Kerala Gov AM Khan on Udaipur beheading case pic.twitter.com/oqys2KFGyS
He said, “We worry when symptoms come but refuse to notice the deeper disease. Children are being taught in madarsas that punishment for blasphemy is beheading. It’s being taught as the law of God. What’s being taught, there should be examined.”
Murder of Kanhaiya Lal
A Hindu tailor named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered by two Islamists identified as Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Mohammed Gos on June 28. The murder was reportedly in retaliation to a social media post by Kanhaiya Lal in support of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Earlier, Kanhaiya Lal was arrested for the post based on the complaint of his neighbour Nazim.
After getting released on bail, Kanhaiya Lal continued to receive threats. He noticed 5-7 people, including Nazim, continuously did recce of his shop, and he was threatened not to open his tailoring shop. Kanhaiya Lal approached Police for legal action against those who were threatening him and requested Police protection so that he could open the shop.
The Police, instead of arresting those who were threatening him, called them and made them sign a compromise agreement. Kanhaiya Lal had submitted another application on the same day that he did not want legal action following the compromise. Scared for his life, Kanhaiya Lal kept his shop shut for six days. When he finally decided to open his shop, he was brutally murdered by the two Islamists who posed as his customers.
The killers made a video attacking him and also made a video later gloating about the crime. They also threatened to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the video.
