LAL HAD REFUSED TO OPEN HIS SHOP AMID CONSTANT THREATS: LOCALS

JAIPUR: Around 2.30 pm, 47-year-old Kanhaiya Lal, wearing a green cap, was at his tailoring shop in Udaipur’s Dhan Mandi, measuring Mohammad Riyaz Akhtari’s chest with a tape. As Gaus Mohammed filmed the events that were to follow, Akhtari began hacking Lal’s neck with a knife. Lal’s last words in the video were a repeated “kya hua” (what happened), that tapered off into a scream.

A local resident said Lal was originally from Salumber village of Udaipur, and lived in Sector 11. For the past two decades, Lal worked as a tailor in his shop.

Lal’s neighbours said around two weeks ago, he shared a clip of now suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma allegedly using provocative words for the Prophet, on Whatsapp. “His family said that he was not well versed in using mobile, and the post may have been uploaded by children while playing,” a neighbour said. Still, it caused consternation among Muslims in his locality. An FIR against Lal under sections 295(A) and 153(A) said that he had made a post which hurt Muslims.

On June 15, Lal told the police that a group of men were doing a recce of his shop everyday and warned him against opening it, locals said.

On June 18, with a stir against Sharma’s comments planned in the area, he was picked up by police. “He was released the day after, and continuously said that if he hurt sentiments, he was sorry.”

Locals said for the past ten days, he had refused to open his shop in fear, only mustering up the courage on June 28.

The video of the killing shows Lal in his shop diligently taking Akhtari’s measurements. As he put the measuring tape around Akhtari’s chest, Lal asks, “Thoda sa kam karun kya? (should I reduce it a little bit)?” As he notes down the measurements, Akhtari, till then playing customer, turns a coldblooded murderer.