The National Investigation Agency has got incriminating evidence like knives, pamphlets of hate messages and other digital evidence pointing towards a motivated terror act by the accused in the Umesh Kohle murder case in Amravati in Maharashtra on June 21.
The investigation into the Kohle terror case is expected to give key insights to the central counter-terror agency probing the Udaipur hacking case of tailor Kanhaiya Lal on June 28. Kanhaiya was hacked to death by accused Riyaz Akhtari and Ghous Mohammed who had trans national links in Pakistan and are suspected to have used a similar motive based on social media posts as the Amravati case to carry out the horrific killings, which prompted the central agency to take over investigations of the two cases.
On Thursday, the NIA conducted searches at 13 locations in the Amravati district of Maharashtra at the premises of the accused as well as suspects to gather more evidence related to the killing of pharmacist Umesh Kolhe. Kohle was attacked on the night of June 21 in Amaravati, allegedly on account of certain social media posts.
NIA officials said during the searches conducted at the premises of the accused and suspects, digital devices like mobile phones, SIM cards, memory cards, digital video recorders, pamphlets spreading hate messages, knives and other incriminating documents and materials, have been seized. “The accused appear to have been radicalised and carried out the killing in a planned and motivated way,” said an investigator.
The Udaipur hacking too was allegedly on account of similar social media posts and the agency will investigate any suspected linkages, online or offline, between the two cases. “It remains to be seen if the sources of radicalisation, motivation and planning were similar,” said an official. The Umesh Kohle case was initially registered by the local police on June 22 but the NIA re-registered the case on July 2 and took over the investigation after the Udaipur killing. ''Further investigations in the case are in progress,'' said the NIA in a statement.
