NIA files chargesheet against 11 men in Amravati Chemist Umesh Kolhe Murder Case
The Amravati-based chemist was murdered for supporting suspended Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s statements she made on the Prophet on national television in May.
;The National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week filed a chargesheet against eleven men in connection with a case related to the brutal murder of Umesh Kolhe, a chemist in Amravati on June 21, 2022.
On June 21, 2022, pharmacist Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe was stabbed to death while he was riding his scooter home after closing his pharmacy 'Amit Medical Store' near Ghantaghar in Amravati's Shyam chowk area. The Amravati-based chemist was murdered for supporting suspended Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s statements she made on the Prophet on national television in May.
The eleven charge-sheeted men are:
- Mudassir Ahmed
- Shahrukh Kha
- Abdul Taufeeque Shaikh
- Mohammad Shoeb
- Atib Rashid
- Yusuf Khan
- Irfan Khan
- Abdul Arbaz
- Mushifique Ahmad
- Shaikh Shakil
- Shahim Ahemad
All the accused persons have been charge-sheeted under Sections 34 (acts done with common intention), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony),153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 16(Punishment for terrorist acts), 17 (Punishment for raising funds for a terrorist act), 18 (Punishment for conspiracy, etc), 19 (Punishment for harbouring) and 20 (Punishment for being a member of terrorist gang or organization) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.
The investigations have revealed that the accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy by constituting a terrorist gang to avenge Umesh Kolhe, who had uploaded a WhatsApp post supporting allegedly controversial remarks made by Nupur Sharma.
“The accused working with common intentions, brutally killed Kolhe on June 21, 2022, at Ghantaghar in Amravati in a public area, with an aim to strike terror among the people”, the federal agency’s press release stated.
As per the NIA press release the case was initially registered at City Kotwali Police Station, Amravati, and later re-registered by the NIA on July 7, 2022.