Accused in Afrazul Case Charged with Inciting Religious Enmity

The police had arrested Shambhulal Regar as the prime accused with regard to the case on 7 December.

After thoroughly investigating the case of a labourer being set on fire, the Rajasthan police filed a chargesheet against Shambhulal Regar on Friday, 12 January, for having killed the labourer, police said.

The police had arrested Regar as the prime accused with regard to the case on 7 December, a day after the horrific incident where Regar set ablaze Afrazul, a labourer from West Bengal, and recorded the act on camera with the help of his minor nephew.

The chargesheet and related documents were submitted to the court of the chief judicial magistrate on Friday by the Rajsamand police, the Superintendent of Police told The Indian Express.

While Regar is currently under judicial custody, the charges slapped against him include sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).

Additional charges include section 153A – promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion – and section 153B — making statements that could be detrimental to national integrity.

The chargesheet is 413 pages long and we have made 68 witnesses in the case. Evidence, including material and digital, has been cited along with the motive behind the murder.

Rammer Meena, station house officer, Rajnagar police station

The accused has also been charged under Sections 295A, 505 and 120B of the IPC, apart from applicable sections under the Information Technology Act.

Regar is said to have recorded various other videos on a similar anti-Islamic vein as the incriminating video.

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