New Delhi, July 08: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that the killing of Umesh Kolhe, the Hindu pharmacist from Amaravati was an act of larger conspiracy by a group of persons.
These group of persons have inter-alia conspired among themselves to strike terror among a section of the people of India and with their assertions attempted to promote enmity on the grounds of religion, the NIA said in its FIR.
The murder committed by five Muslim men was just days after Kolhe expressed support to suspended BJP spokesperson, Nupur Sharma whose comments on Prophet Mohammad had led to widespread violence in many parts of the country.
The police had arrested Mudassar Ahmad, Abdul Taufiq, Shoeb Khan, Ateeq Rashid and Sharukh Pathan for the murder.
Investigators have prima facie learnt that Kolhe may have been murdered because of his support to Sharma. However the theory that the local police had given out that the murder may have been due to a robbery attempt falls flat as the Rs 35,000 in cash that Kolhe was carrying remained untouched.
An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that the murder was very similar to the one we witnessed in Udaipur. Kolhe was returning from his medical store on a scooter when he was stopped by three men who slit his throat. His family who was family him on another bike was unable to save him and Kolhe died on the spot.
Taking into consideration the nature of the crime and the similarities it had to the Udaipur murder, the Union Home Ministry handed over the case to the NIA.
In the Udaipur case it was found that the two Muslim men, Riyaz Attari and Ghouse Mohammad had links with the Dawat-e-Islami a Pakistan based group. Its supporters have been involved in several incidents of knife attacks in different parts of the world.
The eyes of the Intelligence agencies fell on the Kolhe case after learning about the manner it was executed and its similarities with the killing of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur. The police claimed to have cracked the case and said that it was a robbery. The police said that the accused persons were studying his movement for the entire day. In the evening while he was returning, they stopped him and tried to rob him. Kolhe however tried to put up a fight and also raised an alarm. The accused persons killed him and fled the spot.
