Amravati pharmacist murder: NIA arrests eleventh accused

His lawyer, advocate Kashif Khan said that Ahmed had come to surrender before the special NIA court. However, while we were told to complete formalities - file application to surrender, he was arrested by NIA

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested the eleventh accused, wanted in connection with the brutal murder of Amravati based pharmacist Umesh Kolhe.

Amravati pharmacist murder: NIA arrests eleventh accused

The federal agency took Shamim Ahmed in custody when he came to surrender before the special NIA court in Mumbai. The agency had recently declared an award of ₹2 lakh for information leading to his arrest, claiming that he had played an important role in the entire conspiracy to kill the pharmacist after he posted messages on social media, supporting the former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks about the Prophet Mohammad.

NIA officials said Ahmed would be produced before the special NIA court for remand on Thursday.

His lawyer, advocate Kashif Khan said that Ahmed had come to surrender before the special NIA court. However, while we were told to complete formalities - file application to surrender, he was arrested by NIA.

Shamim had been named as one of the absconding accused who was part of the criminal conspiracy, the NIA has claimed. He would be now produced before the special court by NIA who may seek his further custody for interrogation.

The NIA has so far arrested ten accused in connection with Kolhe’s murder. The tenth accused, Shaikh Shakeel Shaikh Chhotu, 28, a local resident, was arrested on August 12 for allegedly having played an active role in furthering the conspiracy to kill Kolhe.

The others arrested in the case include Abdul Arbaz and Maulavi Mushfique, arrested on August 3 for allegedly harbouring one of the seven accused arrested earlier in the case. Both residents of Amravati, the accused are allegedly associates of the earlier arrested seven persons - Irfan Shaikh, Shoaib Khan, Mudassir Ahmed, Aatif Rashid, Yusuf Khan, Abdul Toufiq and Shahrukh Pathan and one wanted accused Shamim Ahmed Firoj Ahmed.

The federal agency is probing a larger conspiracy in the murder of Kolhe as well as a tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur on June 28. Both were targeted by radical elements following suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s statement on the Prophet Mohammed during a television debate. The NIA said that the intent of the accused was to terrorise people.

According to the Amravati police, on June 21, three men followed 54-year-old Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe on a bike, when the chemist was on his way back home on a scooter at about 10 pm. The three men stopped his scooter and one of them stabbed him on the left side of the neck. Kolhe was taken to nearby Axon hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries.