Udaipur, Amravati killings: BJP playing 'vote polarisation' game, says Congress

AMRAVATI: Maharashtra Congress leader and former state minister Yashomati Thakur on Monday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party over the recent killings of a tailor in Udaipur in Rajasthan and a chemist here.

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was killed on June 28 in the north-western state, while chemist Umesh Kolhe was murdered a week earlier on June 21.

Police probe in the two states has revealed the murders were linked to social media messages of the victims in support of Nupur Sharma, who was suspended from the BJP for objectionable comments against Prophet Mohammad.

"The BJP is playing the game of vote polarisation. We will not let the BJP carry out this experiment in Amravati. The party is directly or indirectly involved in such violent incidents in the country," Thakur alleged at a press conference here.

Mohammad Riyaz Attari, an accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case is reportedly a BJP member, while the main accused in the Kolhe case campaigned for Amravati Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana in the 2019 polls, she alleged.

The BJP as well as Rana have routinely denied these allegations.

She alleged a man identified as Tariq Ahmed Mir arrested for supplying weapons to terrorists in J-K in 2020 was a BJP functionary.

"In the name of nationalism, the BJP has hatched a conspiracy to hollow out the country," Thakur, an MLA from Teosa here, said.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Dilip Yedatkar and former minister Sunil Deshmukh, who took part in the press conference, also attacked the BJP over recent communal incidents.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday asked the BJP to respond to the allegations of its links with one of the people accused in the recent murder of a tailor in Udaipur.

The CM said that reportedly one of the accused in the case was once helped by BJP in a police matter.

He said there are reports that the landlord of the accused had once complained to the local police in Udaipur saying that he, the accused, had not been paying rent, but the police was asked to drop the matter by the BJP as he was their worker.

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.

Gehlot said that BJP leaders should issue a clarification on the "connection" of the accused with their party.

The CM made the demand at a press conference held here by Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP leader and currently the opposition parties' presidential candidate.

After the murder in Udaipur, some photographs of the main accused, Riaz Akhtari, with some BJP leaders, including leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, had emerged on social media, 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, shot the act on mobile and later recorded a video claiming responsibility for the murder saying that the man was beheaded for insulting Islam.

They shared the videos on social media.

Both of them were caught hours later from Rajsamand's Bhim area.

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.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar on Monday alleged that some people are trying to weaken the country's social fabric and a conspiracy is underway to pit people against each other in the name of religion and community.

A convener of the RSS's Muslim wing, Kumar said Friday is the day for prayers for Muslims but some people have converted it in into a day for stone-pelting.

A conspiracy underway to instigate people against each other in the name of religion and community, and weaken the country's unity, he said after participating in a religious programme here.

Some people are working towards weakening the country's social fabric and vitiating its atmosphere, he added.

In a situation like this, Muslim organisations don't just need to come forward and condemn them but identify and deal toughly with them, he said.

The RSS leader appealed to all Indians to unfurl the Tricolour on August 15 when the country celebrates 75 years of its Independence.