Two unidentified assailants beheaded a man today in the Maldas region of Udaipur for allegedly uploading a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma. The assailants filmed the entire incident, which happened close to the Udaipur Bus Stand.
The deceased, a tailor named Kanhaiyalal Teli, allegedly posted a WhatsApp status a few days prior endorsing Sharma, whose comments earlier this month ignited violent riots and protests across the country and drew criticism and official condemnation from almost 20 other nations.
The two murderers, one of whom goes by the name Riyaz and the other by Mohammad, are allegedly shown in a video that leaked on social media accepting accountability for the horrible crime and threatening to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.
In the video, one of the criminals can be seen pretending to be a customer while the tailor takes his measurements. Shortly after, the alleged attacker is seen hitting Kanhaiyalal Teli while the camera that was used to record the video appears to be knocked over in the chaos. The audio that follows includes more screams.
Speaking to FinancialExpress.com, Manoj Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Udaipur, said that the tailor’s murder arose out of a disagreement between two communities over social media posts over Nupur Sharma’s statements.
Kumar added that the tailor had previously been questioned by the police and was himself an accused in a case involving provocative social media statements.
“A heinous murder has been committed and a thorough investigation will be conducted into the incident. Few accused have been identified. Police teams constituted to locate the accused. We will take action on the video of men claiming to have committed the act,” Kumar said to ANI.
The killing sparked protests in the vicinity of the crime, which forced the deployment of police forces and the closing of shops. Authorities decided to shut down internet access in the city for the next 24 hours due to the internal conflict.
