NIA to register UAPA case in ISIS-style Amravati killing

Amravati killing: The local police headed by Amravati Commissioner Aarti Singh registered the gruesome crime as a robbery case under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

The National Investigation Agency has decided to register a case under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act on the gruesome killing of pharmacist Umesh Kolhe on June 21 by the three Islamists.

NIA headquarters in New Delhi (HT)

According to official sources, the NIA took decision to register the case after MHA order and on the basis of indication by the Maharashtra DGP Rajnish Seth. Both the Udaipur and Amravati savage killings are being personally monitored by director general NIA Dinkar Gupta.

The NIA, which had sent a team to Amaravati on Friday has come to this conclusion that Kolhe was hacked to death for supporting Nupur Sharma. It is understood that the main culprit is still absconding while two others who were accomplice in the gruesome crime have been arrested.

This hacking incident happened five days before the Udaipur savage crime when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was still in power. The internal security agencies had already got an indication from the State DGP on Thursday indicating that pharmacist Umesh Kolhe was done to death for supporting former BJP leader Nupur Sharma anti-Prophet remarks.

Prima facie examination of the seized electronic devices indicates that the murderers were radicalized and decided to punish Kolhe. The victim was returning from his medical equipment shop on a scooter when he was accosted by three youth on a bike and hacked to death. The victim’s son and wife, who were following him in another bike, could not save him as he died on the spot due to blood loss.

The local police, however, classified the crime as robbery even though the killers did not even touch the bag which has some ₹35,000 in it.