Amravati Murder Case: Mumbai Court Sends 7 Accused to NIA Custody till 15 July

Police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order after the killing of chemist Umesh Kolhe in Amravati. Image used for representational purposes only.

(Photo: PTI)

A special court in Mumbai on Thursday, 7 July sent the seven accused in the Amravati chemist murder case to the custody of the National Investigation Agency till 15 July.

Advocate Sharif Shaikh, who has represented several terror accused in the past, submitted in court that no offence under section 16 of the NIA Act was made out, Live Law reported.

The accused in the case were identified as: Muddasar Ahmad (22), Shahrukh Pathan (25), Abdul Taufiq (24), Shoaib Khan (22), Atib Rashid (22), Yusuf Khan (32), and the alleged mastermind, Shaikh Irfan Shaikh Rahim.

Irfan Shaikh was arrested on Saturday, 2 July and produced the next day before a magistrate's court, which had remanded him to police custody till 7 July, while Yusuf Khan Bahadur Khan, who runs a clinic in the city, was produced before a magistrate's court, which had sent him to police custody till 4 July.

At the NIA counsel's request, Special Judge AK Lahoti refused entry to the media.

Speaking on the investigation, police said that two motorcycles and three knives used in the crime were recovered from the accused. Police Commissioner Arti Singh said that the mastermind of the crime, Irfan Khan, who was arrested, had paid Rs 10,000 and given a motorcycle to the accused.

What Was the Incident?

Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe, a 54-year-old chemist, was stabbed to death in Maharashtra's Amravati district last month.

While the murder took place on 21 June, the police recently said that their investigation has revealed that Kolhe's social media posts, in which he allegedly supported former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad, led to his death.

Kolhe was allegedly part of a WhatsApp group in which pro-Hindutva posts were often circulated. Being an active member in the group, he had also posted several pro-Hindutva messages, including one in which he expressed support for Sharma's comments on the Prophet.

An official from the City Kotwali Police Station said that Kolhe had also shared the post "mistakenly" in some WhatsApp groups which also included Muslims, including some of his customers.

The police said that his post had gone viral even outside the groups.

(With inputs from Live Law.)