CCTV From Amravati Murder Shows Chemist Who Supported Nupur Sharma Surrounded

Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe, a 54-year-old chemist, was killed in Maharashtra.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

CCTV footage, which has emerged weeks after the brutal murder of Amravati chemist Umesh Kolhe, showed him surrounded and subsequently attacked by his killers. The grainy footage, dated 21 June, showed Kolhe collapsing after being attacked.

The incident took place on the night of 21 June when Kolhe was stabbed with a knife by a man after he closed his medical store located in Rachana Shree Mall near the Amravati Tehsil office in Maharashtra.

A police investigation revealed that Kolhe's social media posts in which he allegedly supported former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad led to his death.

Kolhe was allegedly part of a WhatsApp group in which pro-Hindutva posts were often circulated. Being an active member in the group, he had also posted several pro-Hindutva messages, including one in which he expressed support for Sharma's comments against the Prophet.

An official from the City Kotwali Police Station said that Kolhe had also shared the post "mistakenly" in some WhatsApp groups which had Muslims, including some of his customers.

The police said that his post had gone viral even outside the group.

What Has Happened in the Case?

The National Investigation Agency has taken custody of all the seven accused: Muddasar Ahmad (22), Shahrukh Pathan (25), Abdul Taufiq (24), Shoaib Khan (22), Atib Rashid (22), Yusuf Khan (32), and the alleged mastermind, Shaikh Irfan Shaikh Rahim.

Irfan Shaikh was arrested on Saturday, 2 July and produced before a magistrate's court the following day, which remanded him to police custody till 7 July, while Yusuf Khan Bahadur Khan, who runs a clinic in the city, was produced before a magistrate court which had sent him to police custody till 4 July.

Nupur Sharma was suspended by the BJP last month over her remarks against Prophet Mohammad that led to nationwide protests and global condemnation.