Udaipur Tailor Murder: NIA registers UAPA case

Udaipur: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday registered a case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the "heinous murder" of a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur by two people who, the agency said, wanted to "strike terror among the masses across the country".

A spokesperson for the agency said NIA teams have already reached Udaipur and requisite action for expeditious investigation of the case has been initiated. "The accused persons had also circulated a video of the criminal act in the social media claiming responsibility for the murder in order to trigger panic and strike terror among the masses across the country," he said. The case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the UAPA, he added. The spokesperson said the two accused had inflicted multiple injuries to the victim with sharp weapons.

Meanwhile, responding to the development, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said further investigation into the killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal will be done by NIA, to which the state ATS will render full cooperation.

Gehlot said his government has taken a serious view of the matter, asserting such incidents cannot take place without involvement of radical elements at national and international levels.

Gehlot convened a high-level meeting of Home Minister Rajendra Yadav, Chief Secretary Usha Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary Home, DGP, DG Intelligence and other senior officers at noon in Jaipur, official sources said.

Treating the murder as a terror incident, the Centre, earlier in the day, directed the NIA to extensively probe the "brutal" murder, especially whether any organisation and international links were behind the sensational killing. The case was initially registered at Dhanmandi police station in Udaipur.

Curfew remained clamped in seven police station areas in and around Udaipur while mobile Internet services were suspended across all 33 districts of Rajasthan following stray incidents of violence. The funeral procession was conducted amid tight security from his house in sector 14 in Udaipur with hundreds of locals joining.