Ninth accused had active role in Kanhaiya conspiracy: NIA

JAIPUR: Two days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a 41-year-old man from the Pratapgarh district in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, the agency said on Friday that the accused played an active role in the conspiracy.
The agency on Wednesday arrested Mohammad Muslim Khan, a resident of Parsola in Pratapgarh. He was produced before a court on Thursday which sent him to judicial custody till August 16.
Sources said that the accused was in touch with one of the two killers, Gaus Mohammad. Khan is the ninth accused to be held in the murder case, and the first one to be arrested from outside Udaipur.
Local police said Khan ran a small business of supplying snacks like biscuits and chips in a small village in Pratapgarh district.
An officer said that the accused had come under the radar of the agencies following his proximity with Gaus. The NIA team rounded him up from Pratapgarh and brought him to Jaipur.
Sources said that the agency was likely to examine Khan's exact role in the case.
According to the officer, all the other eight accused arrested, so far, are currently under judicial custody.
Initially, the investigators had believed the murder was a 'lone wolf' attack. Subsequent probe, however, suggested that proper planning with several rounds of recces by multiple suspects preceded Lal's murder inside his shop in Bhoot Mahal area of Udaipur.
A few weeks ago, the NIA conducted a major search operation at the houses of the accused in Udaipur.