Amravati murder victim's family seeks trial in fast-track court

|HT|

More than ten days after a chemist was killed in Maharashtra's Amravati allegedly for supporting comments by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, his family has now sought a trial in a fast-track court. The case is said to be similar to the beheading of a tailor this week in Rajasthan's Udaipur. Both the cases are being investigated by the NIA (National Investigation Agency), and the Amravati murder has been declared as a "terror act" by the central agency. Umesh Kolhe's brother, Mahesh, on Sunday demanded the trial be done in a fast-track court. Adding that “maximum possible punishment should be given to the culprits”, he said that they knew the arrested accused - Yusuf Khan - since 2006 as he was “good friends” with his brother. “Through the police note, we found out that my brother was murdered over his post on Nupur Sharma. He was good friends with Yusuf Khan (arrested accused). The mastermind has been arrested so the pace of the investigation will undoubtedly increase,” Mahesh Kolhe said. On the night of June 21, Umesh Kolhe (54) - who owned a medical store in Amravati - was returning home on his scooter when he was accosted by three men on a bike and hacked to death. His son and wife were on a different two-wheeler but they could not save him.

Kolhe was murdered over an alleged social media post supporting suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma who had made derogatory statements against Prophet Muhammed.

Five people including Mudassir Ahamad, Shahrukh Pathan, Abdul Taufiq Sheikh, Shoeb Khan, and Ateeq Rashid have been arrested so far, and the search is on to arrest the rest. The case has been transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Meanwhile, on Sunday, a high-level meeting of police officers over the law and order situation in Amravati was held.

Kolhe's murder took place exactly a week before Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur, was brutally murdered by two men for supporting Nupur Sharma. The accused had filmed the killing and circulated the video. However, they were arrested just hours after the gruesome killing.

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