Indian police have made new arrests over the killing of a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan, which has sparked tensions between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority and clamped down on protests and the internet to prevent them from escalating.
Three senior police officials said on Saturday that two Rajasthan-based Muslims have been detained for planning to kill Telli at his shop in Udaipur, a popular tourist destination. Two other Muslims have already been arrested.
“We have now arrested the two ringleaders and earlier we had arrested two men who committed the heinous crime,” said Prafulla Kumar, a senior police official in Udaipur.
The killing was filmed and posted online, allegedly in response to the victim’s support for a politician’s disparaging remarks. The victim, Kanhaiya Lal Telli, is said to have made a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma – a former spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party – who made anti-Islamic comments in May.
Kumar said internet services are gradually being restored and security forces remain on high alert.
An angry mob, including several lawyers, punched and shoved the four accused in the murder case as they appeared in court on Saturday.
Supreme Court judges said on Friday that Sharma should apologize to the entire nation after her remarks fueled religious divisions in India, angered Islamic nations and sparked diplomatic tensions.
Local media reported a separate incident on June 21 in which a chemist was stabbed to death in the western state of Maharashtra for allegedly supporting remarks made by Sharma on social media.
“Five people have been arrested in connection with the chemist’s murder and the main accused are being sought,” Aarti Singh, the regional police chief, was quoted as saying by local media.
In Afghanistan, the Islamic State group last month said an attack on a Sikh temple that killed at least two people and wounded seven was in response to insults directed at the Prophet Muhammad in India.
Police in New Delhi arrested journalist Mohammad Zubair, an outspoken critic of the Modi government who helped draw attention to Sharma’s remarks through his fact-checking website Alt News and on social media.
Zubair’s bail plea was rejected on Saturday and a local court sentenced him to two weeks’ remand, a court order said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) – India’s top counter-terrorism agency – said it was investigating Telli’s murder.
A senior NIA official in New Delhi said agents were interrogating Muslims associated with the four accused in Udaipur to ascertain whether they had links to militant networks.
Muslims living about 3 km from the tailor shop said they felt nervous and feared a social and economic boycott by powerful Hindus living in Udaipur.
“I know what was done is barbaric, but the community should not be held responsible for the act of two people,” said Mohammad Farooq, a medical representative living in a Muslim-dominated area of the city.
Add Comment