Probe reveals killers’ links with Pakistani outfit
NEW DELHI: The initial investigation into the Isis-style killing of a tailor in Udaipur has revealed links of the two self-radicalized murderers with the Karachi-based Sunni Islamist organization Dawat-e-islami, which has links with the Barelvi pan-islamic Tehreek-e-labbaik extremist organization in Pakistan, people familiar with the investigation said on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, 38-year-old Bhilwara resident Riyaz Akhtari and 39-year-old Udaipur resident Gaus Mohammed hacked to death Kanhaiya Lal, 47, for supporting former BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Mohammed. Akhtari is a welder who had crafted the knives, much before the Prophet remarks controversy, for sale to butchers.
The two accused were arrested by Rajasthan police in Rajsamand, while on their way to shoot another video at the Ajmer Sharif shrine after hacking the tailor to death. The two had already distributed the murder video within their Whatsapp group, and it became viral in a matter of minutes after the barbaric crime. In another video, the two radicalized Islamists threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Interrogation of the two accused revealed that the two belonged to the Sufi-barelvi sect of Sunni Islam and had close links with the Dawat-e-islami in Karachi, the people cited in the first instance said. While the two were self-radicalized, efforts are being made to find out whether they had any links with other extremist Sunni organizations in India including those with links with Muslim Brotherhood, according to counterterror officials. The two have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the case has been handed over to National Investigation Agency (NIA). The investigation has revealed that Gaus Mohammed, a small trader by occupation, travelled to Saudi Arabia twice in 2013 and 2019 and went to Pakistan in 2013 and 2014, where he visited the headquarters of Dawat-e-islami. Akhtari does not have a passport and has not travelled abroad.
Investigators said the two men confessed to the crime and showed no remorse, insisting that they had to do it given that the tailor had insulted the Prophet.
Rajasthan police have booked the two men under the UAPA, chief minister Ashok Gehlot said on Wednesday. The Udaipur murder was meant to spread terror and information has also surfaced that the killers have contacts abroad, he added. Gehlot confirmed that the case will be investigated by the NIA and said the Antiterrorist Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan police will fully cooperate with the probe agency.
Karachi-based Dawat-e-islami’s aim is to spread the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah with the objective of advocating Shariah globally. It has a huge following in Pakistan and is committed to supporting the blasphemy law in the Islamic Republic.
The savage Udaipur murder has sent alarm bells ringing in the internal security establishment as rising Islamic radicalization in India is evident from the crime; countries in the neighborhood, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have also not been able to control the rise of political Islam in the Indian subcontinent.
While the government has decided to take a hard stance on rising radicalization in the country, it also believes in strengthening the hands of Muslim moderates, the people cited in the first instance said. The home ministry is also taking a hard look at the Udaipur crime to find out whether the accused had any links with the extremist Popular Front of India (PFI) movement. PFI has risen rapidly in India and is now spread all over the country in the name of the Sunni revivalist movement.