Rajasthan tailor beheading: NIA files charge sheet against 11 including 2 Pakistani nationals

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 11 people, including two Pakistani nationals, in the brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan's Udaipur about six months ago, an official said. Kanhaiya Lal, 48, was killed with a cleaver inside his shop on June 28. The assailants claimed they hacked Lal to death to avenge an alleged insult to Islam.

The killing and circulation of its video were to create panic and terror amongst the masses across the country, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

The case was initially registered at Dhanmandi Police Station in Udaipur district of Rajasthan and was later re-registered by the NIA. The charge sheet was filed in a special NIA court in Jaipur against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act.

"Investigations have revealed that the accused persons, operating as a terror gang-module, conspired to take revenge (against the alleged remarks of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Muhammad).

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"The accused were radicalized and took inspiration from incriminating audios/videos/messages being circulated from within and outside India," the spokesperson said.

The NIA said the accused arranged deadly knife and murdered Lal in reaction to his Facebook post and attacked a co-worker in his shop in broad daylight.

"They made a video of the killing, released and made it viral. They also shot another threatening video with the intentions of striking terror among the people of India," the official said.

Those charge-sheeted in the case are Mohammad Riyaz Attari, Ghouse Mohammad, Mohsin Khan, Asif Hussain, Mohammad Mohsin, Vasim Ali, Farhad Mohammad Sheikh, Mohammed Javed, Muslim Khan @ Muslim Raza, and Pakistani nationals Salman and Abu Ibrahim, both from Karachi.

The spokesperson said further investigations in the case are in progress.