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Days after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over two recent back-to-back killings that occurred on different occasions in Rajasthan's Udaipur and Maharashtra's Amravati, the central agency's Director-General Dinkar Gupta met Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The meeting took place at Shah's office, and it lasted for about 35 minutes. The discussion between Gupta, a 1987-batch Punjab cadre officer, who took charge as new NIA chief on June 27, is not known yet but it is learnt that it was a courtesy meeting as could not meet Shah since after taking charge of the agency DG. However, it is expected that Gupta, former Director-General of Police, would have briefed Shah about the two recent throat slit killings in Udaipur and Amravati which had shaken the entire country with the MHA calling them 'brutal and barbaric'. After the meeting, when asked about the latest development in the investigation of the two cases, Gupta told ANI that "I cannot say anything on it (cases)". "The matters are under investigation and we do not comment over cases under investigation," Gupta said. Asked whether he briefed Home Minister about any details linked to the two cases, Gupta said "I cannot tell on that part". Gupta chose to keep quiet when ANI asked whether there is any link between the two killings that had taken place within a week and the common connection in these incidents was that the victims had supported controversial comments of BJP leader Nupur Sharma on the Prophet in a television debate. Home Minister on July 1 had directed the NIA to take over the probe into the brutal killing of Maharashtra's Amravati-based shop owner Umesh Kolhe on June 21 after he wrote a post in support of Nupur Sharma on Facebook. Home Minister's Office (HMO) made the announcement through its Twitter handle as the matter was similar to the Udaipur case in which a tailor was hacked to death in broad daylight by two men on June 28. In the tweet, it is directed that "the conspiracy behind the killing, involvement of organisations and international linkages would be thoroughly investigated". Exactly a week before tailor Kanhaiyalal Teli was hacked to death in Udaipur, Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe, a 54-year-old chemist, was killed in Maharashtra's Amravati district on June 21. Initial investigation by the City Kotwali Police Station in Amravati following a complaint by Umesh Kohl's son Sanket Kohle led them to arrest two persons Muddsir Ahemad, 22, and Shahrukh Pathan, 25, on June 23. Their interrogation revealed the involvement of four more persons, of which three -- Abdul Thoufik, 24, Shoaib Khan, 22, and Atib Rashid, 22 -- were arrested on June 25. One is absconding yet. In Udaipur, a tailor Kanhaiya Lal was hacked to death inside his shop by two men on June 28. The HMO had also handed over the Udaipur case to the NIA to investigate it. (ANI)
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