4-Hour Curfew Break Today, Internet Still Suspended

Udaipur:

As Udaipur limps back to normalcy after the gruesome murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal, the administration has announced that the curfew will be relaxed for four hours today. Internet services are still suspended.

Amid the uneasy calm in the city, a Jagannath Yatra was held peacefully yesterday under tight security arrangements.

Kanhaiya Lal, 48, was murdered on Tuesday by two men who filmed the killing. Later, Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad put out another video in which they bragged about the murder and also threatened to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two have been arrested, and five others have been detained. The two have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

Udaipur police came under criticism for not providing security to Kanhaiya Lal after he complained of threats over a social media post in support of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, whose comment on Prophet Muhammad triggered massive outrage.

As many as 32 officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS), including the Inspector General and Police Superintendent Of Udaipur, have been transferred in the wake of the murder.

The Union Home Ministry has handed over the investigation into the sensitive case to the country’s top anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The killers had links with Pakistan-based group Dawat-e-Islami and one of them also went to Karachi in 2014, say investigators.

The tailor’s murder was a planned act of terror and more people were involved, Rajasthan police chief ML Lather said.

“The main accused were in touch with organisation Dawat-e-Islami. One of them also went to Karachi in Pakistan in 2014 to meet the organisation. We are considering it an act of terror,” he said.

Mr Lather said an Assistant Sub-Inspector has been suspended for not taking proper action to prevent the incident.