Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot claims Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal's killers linked to BJP

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that the killers of tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli were linked to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). In June 2021, Kanhaiya Lal was mercilessly killed at his shop by two men in Udaipur.

Gehlot said the killers of Kanhaiya Lal were arrested by police in another case days before his murder but BJP leaders came to the police station to release them. Following this, Lal was killed. 

"The culprits have links to the BJP. Days before the incident, the police had arrested these accused in some other case and some BJP leaders visited the police station to get them released," Gehlot was quoted by news agency ANI.

The Congress leader also alleged that the BJP was trying to spark communal tension ahead of the November 25 assembly elections in Rajasthan.

Kanhaiya Lal, 48, was allegedly killed by individuals wielding cleavers, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, at his shop in Udaipur's Dhan Mandi police station area. The motive behind the attack was reportedly a controversial post on social media allegedly posting in support of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma. 

The killing was captured on camera, and a chilling video was posted by the two attackers. They said that they had committed the act because they had been angered by Sahu’s alleged support of BJP leader Nupur Sharma, then suspended for controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting said Congress sympathises with terrorists hinting at Kanhaiya Lal's brutal killing.

"The murder of Kanhaiya Lal ji is a big stain on the state government. Such a heinous incident happened in Udaipur because there is a Congress government which sympathises with terrorists," Modi had said.

Reacting to this, Gehlot said: "The thing is that BJP has sensed defeat in the elections and are, hence, coming up with bizarre claims. They are not speaking a word about the schemes that we launched and the laws we brought. They just want to stir up trouble ahead of the elections."

He said that the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police could have handled the case better than the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He said that the probe would have moved to a "logical conclusion" had the SOG been on the case, instead of the NIA. He said the NIA took up the case on the day of the incident and the state government did not raise any objection.

"No one knows what action the NIA has taken. If our SOG had pursued the case, the culprits would have been brought to justice by now," CM Gehlot said.

"It was an unfortunate incident and I cancelled my scheduled events and left for Udaipur as soon as I learned of it. However, several top leaders of the BJP chose to attend an event in Hyderabad even after learning of the Udaipur incident," Gehlot said.