New Delhi, 7 July
The attackers involved in the murder of a pharmacist in Maharashtra’s Amravati may have been “self-motivated” by the acts of the dreaded global terrorist organization ISIS, and NIA investigators are trying to find out if they have any links. Other terrorist organizations operating in India’s neighbourhood.
Amravati-based pharmacist Umesh Kolhe was strangled to death by two motorcyclists on June 21, allegedly to support former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who had made objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
Officials said that during searches at several premises of the accused persons, the NIA has recovered pamphlets spreading hate messages, knives, mobile phones, SIM cards, memory cards and other incriminating documents. conclusion.
Officials further stressed that because of the way Kolhe was killed, it appeared that the killers may have been “self-inflicted” taking cues from ISIS. Investigators are still trying to find out if he has any links with foreign terrorist organizations including ISIS.
Officials said there have been instances in the past of “self-motivated” groups carrying out terror activities in several countries around the world. He said the terrorists who carried out several Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019, were also members of a “self-motivated” group.
The NIA on Wednesday raided 13 locations in Amravati in connection with Kolhe’s murder.
In its FIR, the NIA has called it an “act of terror to terrorize a section of people”. Seven people were arrested by the Maharashtra Police before the NIA took over the case on July 2, following a directive from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The murder of pharmacist Kohle in Amravati, a week before the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, on June 28, is being probed by the NIA.