The Maharashtra Police on Saturday arrested the main accused person in the murder of a chemist in Amravati, ANI reported.
The man, identified as Shaikh Irfan Rahim, was arrested from Nagpur, according to The Times of India. He is the seventh person to be arrested in the case, said the police inspector at the kotwali police station in Amravati Nilima Araj.
The 54-year-old chemist, Umesh Kolhe, was killed on June 21 when he was on his way home after shutting down his shop. His son Sanket Kolhe and his wife Vaishnavi were accompanying him on a scooter.
Earlier on Saturday, the police had said that Kolhe may have been murdered for sharing a post supporting suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who had made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a debate on Times Now news channel on May 26.
“During the investigation, we found that Kolhe had posted on social media in support of Sharma and this incident may have taken place because of that post,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikram Sali said.
An unidentified police official told The Times of India that Rahim hatched the conspiracy to kill Kolhe and promised to pay Rs 10,000 to five persons for the murder. The other accused persons are Mudassir Ahmed Shaikh Ibrahim, Shahrukh Pathan Khan, Abdul Taufeeq Tasleem, Shoeb Khan, Ateef Rashid and Yusuf Khan.
Sanket Kolhe told the police that two men stopped his father’s bike and stabbed his neck with a knife, according to The Indian Express.
“My father fell and was bleeding,” he said in his complaint. “I stopped my scooter and started shouting for help. Another man came and the three fled the spot on the motorcycle.”
Umesh Kolhe was taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his wound.
The murder took place after a tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, was killed in Udaipur for supporting Sharma.
The Union home ministry has said that the National Investigation Agency would take over the case in Amravati to check the “involvement of organisations and international linkages”. The central agency is also investigating Lal’s murder in Udaipur.
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