The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday took over the case of a tailor beheaded in Udaipur, Rajasthan, doubting that the two accused wanted "to strike terror among masses".

The anti-terror agency has re-registered the case, lodged initially by Dhanmandi police station of Udaipur, against Riyaz Akhtari and Gose Mohammad on charges of brutally murdering tailor Kanhaiya Lal Telli, 45, with sharp weapons inside his shop. "​NIA has re-registered a case under sections 452, 302, 153(A), 153(B), 295(A) & 34 of IPC and sections 16, 18 & 20 of UA(P) Act, 1967 against accused who have conspired, planned and committed the heinous murder of the tailor ," an NIA spokesperson said.

The two were arrested by the Rajasthan police after the gruesome killing of Lal who had supported BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s objectionable religious comments.

Trigger panic and terror

The NIA spokesperson said that the investigating teams have already reached Udaipur to initiate requisite action for expeditious probe in the case. "The accused persons had also circulated a video of the criminal act in the social media claiming responsibility for the murder in order to trigger panic and strike terror among the masses across the country," he said.

In the video clip, the accused had threatened to attack Prime Minister,Narendra Modi too.

Prominent Muslim organisations and clerics, however, have condemned the tailor’s killing and said it can never be justified. Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, issued a statement to stress that the tailor’s murder is anti-Islam. “The heartbreaking, heinous murder committed in Udaipur has shaken the humanity. The inhumane incident of the murder of a man named Kanhaiya Lal by two persons named Riaz and Ghous, and that too in the name of the Holy Prophet, is not only an act of cowardice but an act against Islam,” he stated.

Condemnation of act

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind General Secretary Hakeemuddin Qasmi was equally candid in his reaction: "The act is a crime in the eyes of law, and our religion does not allow this."

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also was harsh in its condemnation of the beheading but also wished that the government should have taken action against Nupur Sharma for her remarks against Prophet.

"Neither the law allows it nor does the Islamic Shariah justifies it. So, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board condemns the incident in Udaipur ," the Islamic law board commented.

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