Weeks after the killing of a tailor in Udaipur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot launched fresh accusations claiming a link between the killer and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and asked the saffron party to come clean on the ‘connection’ they have with the accused.
Gehlot, who has repeatedly targeted the BJP over the gruesome incident, alleged that one of the accused was once helped by BJP in a police matter.
The accused had not been paying rent in the past which led the landlord to file a police complaint in the city, Gehlot said at a press conference in Jaipur by Yashwant Sinha, who is running for the President as the opposition parties' candidate.
However, the police was asked to drop the matter by the BJP as he was their worker, Gehlot claimed.
The man in his complaint said that he was often paid threatening visits by some people after he made the complaint, Gehlot said.
“Before the police could take action, BJP leaders called up the police station and said that he was their worker and asked them to not trouble him. The person who committed such a huge and heinous crime had relations with whom, it has been exposed,” Gehlot said without naming anyone.
The Rajasthan chief minister said that BJP leaders should issue a clarification on the “connection” of the accused with their party.
{{/usCountry}}The Rajasthan chief minister said that BJP leaders should issue a clarification on the “connection” of the accused with their party.
{{/usCountry}}Speculations over BJP's alleged links with the accused rose after photos of the main accused, Riaz Akhtari, with some BJP leaders. The pictures that were widely circulated online, included that of Rajasthan leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, prompting the Congress to allege that Akhtari was a BJP worker.
BJP has since denied the allegation.
Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was brutally hacked to death by two men in his shop on June 28 in Udaipur's Dhan Mandi police station area over a controversial social media post.
The two main accused, Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, who filmed the act on their mobile and bragged about it in a video, were arrested from Rajsamand's Bhim area. In the video, they said that the man was beheaded for insulting Islam. Reportedly, Kanhaiya Lal had made a comment in support of Nupur Sharma's remark on Prophet Mohammed.
A total of seven people have been arrested so far in connection with the case and are currently under the custody of the National Investigation Agency.
(With agency inputs)