Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad had become members of Pakistan-based Sunni Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami.
Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad -- the two Udaipur murder accused who had allegedly beheaded the tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli for supporting the suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma -- were part of a terror gang and not a terror outfit, the National Investigation Agency said on Thursday. The agency said Kanhaiyalal's beheading wasn't a two-person job and a bigger gang was involved in the planning and execution of the act. A 10-member NIA team is probing the Udaipur case under an Inspector General-level officer. They will produce Akhtari and Mohammad to a special NIA court today. The duo has been booked under the stringent UAPA law.
NIA officials said that the anti-terror agency is exploring the role of local self-radicalised gangs in Kanhaiya Lal Teli's chilling murder. The agency said Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad beheaded the 47-year-old man in order to "strike terror among the masses across the country". It is also probing the case with the angle of international conspiracy. It said more people could be involved in the brutal day-light murder.
Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad had become members of Pakistan-based Sunni Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami via a mobile application. One of them has been in touch with people in Pakistan, the agency said, adding the probe is in the preliminary stage and it was too early to draw a conclusion based on these findings.
What is Dawat-e-Islami?
Dawat-e-Islami is a Karachi-based Islamic group. Its website says the group is a "global non-political Islamic organisation working for the propagation of the Quran and Sunnah throughout the globe." It was formed in 1981.
According to reports, Mohammad had visited Pakistan a few years ago. The police have arrested three people who were in touch with the main accused.
On Thursday, a local court sent the two accused to 14-day judicial custody. They were brought in a police van with their faces covered.
The public prosecutor claimed the two men were behaving as "they have done nothing".
The duo had allegedly ambushed Kanhaiya Lal earlier this week. They visited the tailor's shop posing as customers and attacked him when he was taking measurements. In a recorded video that they later made viral, they said by killing the Udaipur tailor, they had avenged an insult to Islam.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had handed over the Udaipur case to NIA to expose "involvement of any organization and international links".
Kanhiaya Lal had been arrested for writing an allegedly objectionable post on Facebook and was out on bail. He reportedly told the police that he was getting threat calls.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
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 "Who killed Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal? Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad were arrested after a 170-km chase. (File)")
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