Udaipur Murder: Court Sends 3 Accused to Police Custody, 4 to Judicial Custody

Kanhaiya Lal was, on 28 June, killed by two men inside his tailoring shop for posting a social media post allegedly supporting the controversial remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A designated National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur on Tuesday, 12 July, sent three of the accused in the murder of the Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal – Riaz Akhtari, Gos Mohammad, and Farhad Mohammad Sheikh – to police custody till 16 July and the remaining four accused – Mohammed Mohsin, Wasim Ali, Asif, and Mohsin – to judicial custody till 1 August.

All seven accused were presented separately to the court amid tight security on Tuesday.

Special Public Prosecutor TP Sharma said that the court had previously remanded all the accused under NIA custody till 12 July.

Background

Kanhaiya Lal was, on 28 June, killed by two men inside his tailoring shop for posting a social media post allegedly supporting the controversial remarks made by former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad.

Sharma's remarks, made during a TV debate, had sparked widespread protests across the country besides also attracting international condemnation from Arab nations.

Lal's murder was allegedly recorded on a phone by Gos Mohammed, and the video was posted online. The murderers in the video later said that they had hacked Lal to death in order to avenge an alleged insult to Islam.

Gos Mohammed and Mohammed Riyaz Akhtari were arrested within hours of the killing. Subsequently, four more persons were arrested in connection with the case.

NIA had on 10 July had made the seventh arrest in the case.

Earlier on 4 July, five people were arrested in separate cases in Hanumangarh district for allegedly circulating the video of Lal's murder.

As per Rajasthan Police, they also posted photos and videos of them bearing arms on social media.

(With inputs from PTI.)