The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Farhad Mohammad Sheikh alias Babla, 31, in connection with the June 28 Udaipur beheading case. This is the seventh arrest in the case.
The NIA said Farhad Mohammad Sheikh was arrested on Saturday. He is the son of one Azaz Mohammad, resident of House Number 143/24, Patel Circle, Diwan Sah Colony, Udaipur, Rajasthan. The case relates to the killing of Kanhaiyya Lal Teli in Udaipur at his shop in Maldas Street in that city.The case was initially registered as FIR number 81/2022 dated June 28, 2022, at Police Station Dhanmandi, Udaipur.
The NIA re-registered the case on June 29 and took over the investigation into the matter.Earlier, six accused persons were arrested in this case on June 29, July 1, and July 4. “Farhad Mohammad was a close criminal associate of the main accused Riyaz Akhtari and was an active part of the conspiracy to kill Kanhaiyya Lal, the NIA said in a statement.
The probe so far suggests both prime accused in the case —Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad— were in touch with the terror group Al Qaeda. One accused, Ghouse Mohammad, visited Pakistan in 2014. Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad had hacked Teli to death with a cleaver at his shop in Udaipur and posted videos online claiming they are avenging an alleged insult to Islam. The two accused had also inflicted multiple injuries to the victim with sharp weapons. The duo was arrested on the day of incident itself and booked under stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and various other sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder, criminal conspiracy, and common intention.
“NIA registers a case in the incident of the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The NIA has re-registered a case RC- 27/2022/NIA/DLI on 29/06/2022 under Sections 452 (house-trespass after having made preparation for causing hurt and assault, 302 (murder), 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of caste, religion and place of birth), 153 (B) (imputations and assertions prejudicial to national interest), 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class) and 34 (acts done by several persons for furtherance of common intention) of IPC and Sections 16, 18 and 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 against accused who have conspired, planned and committed heinous murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli on 28.6.2022 in Udaipur, Rajasthan,” the agency had said in a statement after re-registering the FIR.
The NIA is also probing a similar case relating to murder of pharmacist Umesh Kolhe in Amravati on June 21 allegedly on account of certain social media posts.