CHEMIST MURDER IN AMRAVATI: NIA OPPOSES DISCHARGE PLEA OF ACCUSED

MUMBAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed a discharge plea filed by Abdul Taufeeque Shaikh, one of the accused in the killing of Amravati pharmacist Umesh Kolhe who was murdered after he expressed support to the then BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Muhammad. NIA said Shaikh conducted a recce twice to help the terrorist group plan Kolhe’s murder.

Shaikh, on March 5, moved an application before a special NIA court seeking discharge from the case. Amravati pharmacist Kolhe was going home on his scooter on the night of June 21 when he was accosted by three young men on a bike and was hacked to death. Kolhe’s daughter-in-law and his son were in another vehicle, behind him, but they could not save him.

Shaikh sought discharge on the grounds that he was falsely implicated in the case and that there was no documentary evidence in the entire chargesheet to demonstrate his involvement in any terrorist act, as contemplated under section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The agency opposed the application, stating that the accused was a part of the terrorist act and that it was a larger conspiracy by a terrorist gang who had interalia conspired amongst themselves to strike terror amongst a section of people and with their assertions attempted to promote enmity on the grounds of religion. The agency further claimed that the incident had national and international linkages. They further claimed that Shaikh, along with two co-accused, conducted a “recce of the victim to eliminate him”.

“The act committed by the accused is not just a simple act of murder but the same is coupled with larger conspiracy to strike a terror act in a well-planned criminal conspiracy hatched by religiously radicalised vulnerable youth thereby striking a terror into the minds of people,” the NIA reply added.