By Nivedita Niranjankumar
Rajasthan police have arrested two people for brutally hacking to death a tailor for making a social media post supporting former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
The accused have been identified as Gaus Mohammad and Mohd Riyaz Ansari while the victim as Kanhaiyalal, a tailor. The accused were arrested based on two videos they shared on their Facebook account - one showing them brutally hacking the victim to death and the second where they confessed to the crime and also threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The incident has triggered protests in Udaipur's Maldas street where the crime occurred. The police have requested people to not watch the video which has since gone viral and maintain peace. Internet services in Rajasthan have also been suspended and additional forces posted, according to reports.
In the video, the two accused can be seen approaching the victim as customers and pretending to let him take some measurements. They suddenly pull out a cleaver and start attacking him even as he repeatedly asks "what has happened" in Hindi. In the second video, the two accused are sitting together and speaking to the camera and boast about committing the crime and also threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot posted several tweets condemning the incident and urged people to not watch the video. "I condemn the heinous murder of a youth in Udaipur. Strict action will be taken against all those criminals involved in the incident and the police will reach the bottom of the crime."
Speaking to the media at the Jodhpur airport, Gehlot asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to address the nation over the tense and deteriorating times in the country. He further appealed everyone to not share the video as doing so would be helping the "criminal's purpose of spreading hatred".
The Udaipur District Collector also tweeted that curfew had been imposed in several areas of the city and section 144 imposed.
