'Is this a conspiracy to incite communal riots?': Baghel asks BJP to clarify stand on its 'links' with Udaipur murder accused

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said the BJP should clarify its stand on its alleged links with the accused in the murder of a tailor in Rajasthan, and wondered whether the incident was a conspiracy to incite communal violence.

On Saturday, the Congress had alleged that the main accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case in Udaipur was a member of the BJP.

However, the BJP had dismissed the claim as "baseless".

Responding to a query on the Udaipur incident, Baghel told reporters here, "No civilized society will accept the barbaric incident of murder in Udaipur. I strongly condemn this. I have demanded that the accused be punished at the earliest."

"But another angle has come to the fore in the incident. The BJP should tell about its connection with the accused. It is viral on social media that the party has links with the accused. BJP should clarify it. Is this a conspiracy to incite communal riots? Who are the conspirators of the incident? This is a matter of investigation," he added.

At a press conference in the national capital on Saturday, Congress' media department head Pawan Khera had cited Facebook posts showing accused Riyaz Akhtari with local BJP leaders and sought to know whether the Centre had moved quickly to transfer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) due to this reason.

The BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya said the accused were not BJP members and accused the opposition party of peddling fake news.

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was hacked to death on June 28 afternoon by two cleaver-wielding men, who posted online a grisly video of the crime saying they were avenging an insult to Islam.

The killing sparked widespread outrage.

Akhtari and another accused, Ghouse Mohammad were arrested hours after the incident.