Rajasthan ATS refutes reports of 'no terror links' in Udaipur murder, calls it 'premature'

Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have confirmed that they are probing into terror links in the brutal murder that took place in Udaipur on Tuesday. Noting that some media reports cited that there is no hand of terror organisations in Kanhaiya Lal's murder, the Rajasthan ATS said the probe into the matter is still in its initial state.

In a press release, ATS said, "Certain reports in media citing NIA that there's no hand of a terrorist organisation in Udaipur tailor's murder incident is premature as of now. It still requires further investigation which is at the initial stage currently."

Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was allegedly killed by Ghouse Mohammad and Riaz Akhtari, purportedly for sharing a post on social media supporting Nupur Sharma. The accused had also posted clips online, stating that they were avenging an insult to Islam.

Previously, Police had said that the accused had gone to Pakistan twice in 2013 and 2014. The accused were allegedly linked to the Pakistan-based extremist outfit Dawat-e-Islami.

The accused were in touch with their Pakistani handlers, as per sources. Ghouse was in touch with Pakistani nationals Salman Haider and Abu Ibrahim. Haider trained Ghouse to radicalise, while Ibrahim was involved in terrorist activities. Literature, including Zakir Naik's speeches, have also been recovered from Ghouse's residence. Riaz was radicalised by Ghouse. 

Two held for conspiring murder of Udaipur tailor: Police

Two men were arrested for conspiring the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal and produced in a local court on Friday. The court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Udaipur, granted one-day transit remand of the duo. They will now be produced in a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur on Saturday by the ATS, an advocate said.

At the same time, the Udaipur district court directed Rajasthan Police to hand over the case diary to NIA. The case will be probed by the counter-terrorism agency after the formalities of the case transfer are completed. 

"The two are co-conspirators in the murder of Kanhaiya Lal and are being interrogated," an official had said in the morning, adding that there were arrested for conducting a recce of the tailor's shop.

Meanwhile, main accused Riaz and Ghouse, have been shifted to a high-security prison in Ajmer after they were granted judicial custody by a court on Thursday.