Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that the killers of Kanhaiya Lal Teli were linked to the BJP. The CM further said that the BJP was trying to whip up communal tension ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.
“The culprits have links to the BJP. Days before the incident, when the police had arrested these accused in some other case and some BJP leaders visited the police station to get them released,” the CM was quoted as saying by ANI.
“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 added.
The CM also said that had the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police handled the case instead of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the probe would have moved to a logical conclusion. “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,” he said.
The case was initially registered at Dhanmandi police station in Udaipur but was later re-registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on June 29, 2022.
Kanhaiya Lal, a Hindu man, was beheaded inside his shop in Udaipur by two Islamists in broad daylight on June 28, last year, for posting content in support of Nupur Sharma. The BJP had suspended Nupur Sharma from the party for her remarks on Islamic history.
