Amravati Murder: Police Chief Tried To Hide It As Robbery, Says MP Navneet Rana

Umesh Kolhe, a chemist, was killed last month, allegedly over his social media posts supporting Nupur Sharma.

The Quint
India
Published:
<div class="paragraphs"><p>File image of MP Navneet Rana.</p></div>
i

File image of MP Navneet Rana.

(Photo: PTI)

advertisement

Member of Parliament Navneet Rana accused the Police Chief of suppressing the murder of Umesh Kolhe, a chemist who was killed last month, allegedly over his social media posts supporting Nupur Sharma.

Kolhe, a 54-year-old chemist, was killed in Maharashtra’s Amravati district on 21 June.

The Union Home Ministry on Saturday, 2 July, handed over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and six people have been arrested so far in connection with the killing.

Rana, who is an elected MP from Amravati, alleged that the city's police commissioner Aarti Singh tried to pass the murder off as a robbery.

"We spoke with cops, they said it looks like incident of theft. We spoke with family, this did not look like theft, as nothing had been taken," she told ANI.

"We wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah & he took action by sending NIA. After 12 days Amravati Commissioner of Police (CP) came in front of the media & said that the case is similar to the Udaipur murder and is related to content posted about Nupur Sharma," Navneet Rana was quoted as saying by ANI.

"After 12 days she's giving clarification on the incident. She first said that it's robbery & tried to suppress the case. Enquiry must also be done against Amravati CP," the MP added.

"So I've demanded an enquiry on CP too as to why she hid actual matter & threatened journalists to not expose the truth", she told ANI.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Reason of the Murder

Amravati Commissioner of police Dr Aarti Singh had said the exact reason behind the murder is being ascertained.

Six persons have been arrested so far and have been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sec 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy).

The police said that Kolhe's social media post supporting suspended BJP spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, who had made controversial comments regarding the Prophet, appears to be the reason behind the incident.

However, the chemist's son claimed that his social media profiles did not contain anything controversial.

The case gained attention after a tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, was hacked to death in Udaipur for his social media post supporting Nupur Sharma.

(With inputs from ANI)

(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)

Published: undefined

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL FOR NEXT