“The brutality of murdering a father in front of his son, under the open sky in a public space, with proper planning and celebration is a terrorist action, to say the least,’’ the NIA stated in its charge-sheet in the Umesh Kolhe murder case. Kolhe's killing in Maharashtra’s Amravati district on June 21 was a well-hatched terror conspiracy to spread terror in the hearts and minds of people across the country, the NIA told the Mumbai court while slapping charges against eleven accused in the case in its 137-page charge-sheet.
According to the NIA, Mohammed Shoeb, 22, who worked as a helper labourer, stabbed Kolhe in his neck with a sharp weapon after the “terrorist gang’’ agreed that beheading him was the only punishment he should be given for allegedly dishonouring the Prophet.
There were failed attempts, repeated attempts, and a backup plan to carry out Kolhe’s execution. Accused Mudassir Ahmed, Abdul Arbaz and Shaikh Shakil were part of the backup team with radicalised religious support of Mushifique Ahmad, said the NIA.
The killing sent ripples across the country as riots broke out in several places and a week later a tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, was beheaded in a public area in Udaipur in Rajasthan on June 28 over the same issue. Both the deceased were allegedly targeted for supporting suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks on the Prophet.
The twin cases are being probed by the NIA but direct links have not been found yet. What has been found instead is that the accused persons in the Amravati killing were followers of Tablighi Jamaat, the biggest proselyting movement that has more than 80 million followers in 190 countries. Notably, its international headquarters was in New Delhi till the organisation faced a crackdown for flouting Covid lockdown rules. Its biggest chapter is in Bangladesh where the largest gathering usually takes place in January followed by the second largest in Pakistan in December.
What is expected to ring alarm bells for security agencies is the continued radicalisation of extremist elements and the threat posed by them with their presence in different states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, and Karnataka.
The NIA said in its charge-sheet that “radicalised Islamists of the Tablighi Jamaat’’ murdered Kohle on the grounds of allegedly hurting religious sentiments, promoting enmity, ill will and hatred among different caste and religions.
“This terror act disturbed public tranquility and national integrity, safety and security of common public not only in Amravati but also in entire nation,’’ the NIA stated. The NIA investigators have not found any criminal record of Kolhe, a chemist and law-abiding citizen, but noted that the “terrorist gang’’ which killed him was influenced by the ideology of brutality.
The mastermind of the murder was Irfan Khan, said to be a Tablighi Jamaat follower, who turned out to be a “dark horse’’ in the conspiracy. “He had intentionally roped in the co-accused who never came into limelight so that the conspiracy to kill Umesh Kolhe could be done silently,’’ said the charge-sheet.
The NIA has gathered enough technical evidence like call data records which show the accused were well known to each other, did the recce of Kolhe’s medical shop, were constantly in touch during the crime and were planning their next step to evade the law.
Senior NIA officials, however, said the links of the accused with Tablighi Jamaat, however, do not cast aspersions on the organisation. “The accused were followers of Tablighi Jamaat which does not mean the organisation was involved in the terror act,’’ said the official.
However, the mention of Tablighi Jamaat has once again brought the spotlight on the organisation that faced the ire of the Delhi police after it got into trouble during the Covid lockdown because of its large gathering in Delhi. The organisation denies affiliation to any particular school of jurisprudence (FIQH) of Sunni Islam, focussing instead on Quran and Hadith.
However, this is not the first time some Tablighi followers have come under scanner. The Tablighi Jamaat faces a ban in countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan while some of its followers are under investigation in countries like Morocco. Russia had called it an extremist outfit and the US and UK intelligence have been keeping an eye on the activities of its followers.
This is the first charge-sheet filed by the NIA in the Amravati terror case. There is more ground to cover by the central agency which has not shed light on any suspected international linkages of the accused so far.
While the Udaipur beheading case pointed to the accused's links with crossborder radical groups, the Amravati case is silent on any cross-border support so far. The sleuths will also be probing whether the AQIS ideology or online radicalisation by the Islamic State had influenced the accused or at least motivated them to carry out the brutal stabbing. For now the domestic line of investigation seems to be complete to conclude that the killing of Kohle was a terror act by radicalised youth, a potent threat that will be watched by security agencies in the coming days and months.
The accused named in the charge-sheet are Mudassir Ahmed, Shahrukh Khan, Abdul Taufeeque Shaikh, Mohammad Shoeb, Atib Rashid, Yusuf Khan, Irfan Khan, Abdul Arbaz, Mushifique Ahmad, Shaikh Shakil and Shahim Ahemad.
