Two Muslim men in Rajasthan’s Udaipur murdered a Hindu man, Kanhaiyya Lal, on Tuesday afternoon over his post in support of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The incident shook the nation when a video surfaced in which two men entered the tailor’s shop as customers and grabbed to behead the taylor named kanhaiyya Lal with a knife. The incident took place near the Bhoot Mahal on Maldas Street in Udaipur. The victim who is a tailor was killed in broad daylight .The Udaipur Police rushed to the scene after the enraged merchants in the surrounding area complained of the inhumane incident.
The video was posted by Delhi BJP politician Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, it could be seen that while the tailor was taking the man’s body measurements, he grabbed his neck and attacked him from the back. After this, the man started hitting the tailor, with the victim pleading with him to let him go.The victim could be heard crying and screaming while he was beheaded with a raw knife by the men. The tailor’s body covered in plastic was seen lying outside his shop with blood overflowing on the streets.
In another video, the assailants who have identified themselves as Mohammed Riyaz Akhatari and another one as Mohammed could be seen claiming responsibility for their actions in the name of Allah also threatening Prime minister modi and wishing for the knife to reach his head.
The brutal killers were arrested from the neighbouring district of Rajsamand.
The Police imposed section 144 and also suspended the internet service in a bid to avoid the escalation of the communal tensions and declared the curfew at 8 pm on June 28, hours after Kanhaiya Lal was murdered by the Islamists.
Reportedly, the Police had also arrested Kanhaiya Lal in the past for his social media support to Sharma. Even after arresting Kanhaiya Lal, the murderers were threatening to intimidate him and kill him. On this, the victim had informed the Dhan mandi police station and requested protection but the police did not take the matter seriously.
Soon after the brutal murder, violence broke out in several parts of the state where the furious mob pelted the stones at the state police. Two motorcycles were also set on fire in the Hathipole area of Udaipur. Reports mention that 2 youngsters and a Police personnel were injured in the stone-pelting.
Meanwhile, the Police have also asked the cyber police stations across the city to intensify social media monitoring and flag posts, images, and videos with the potential to inflame communal tension. The Police have issued prohibitory orders and have banned gathering of more than four or five persons across the state for a month. Internet services have also been suspended for the next 24 hours.
The HMO has initiated NIA investigation in the case.
Mainstream media resorted to their standard practice of downplaying horrific crimes, since here too the accused are members of the minority community. The incident was covered by almost all media outlets, but most of them took care to craft the headlines so that it wasn’t immediately clear that the victim.
Leftist propaganda portals like The Quint, The Wire and Scroll purposely did not mention in their respective report’s headlines that the victim, in this case, was a Hindu and the perpetrators belonged to the Muslim community.
India TV headlined and Financial Express also carefully used the words for their headline. The ambiguous headline was probably chosen on purpose to water down the heinous crime.