New Delhi: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the killing of a 54-year-old chemist (Umesh Kolhe) in Amaravati was a "very serious incident". The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also probing the international connections in this case. "Amravati incident very serious, killing is barbaric. Accused, the mastermind has been nabbed. NIA investigating it and finding if there is some international connection. This was initially portrayed as theft, that too will be investigated," Fadnavis told reporters.
Meanwhile, a district court in Amravati has sent the main accused and murder mastermind Irfan Sheikh to police custody till July 7. The accused, identified as Irfan Sheikh, was arrested by the Amravati police in Nagpur on Sunday.
The first six accused have been identified as Mudassir Ahmed, 22, Shahrukh Pathan, 25, Abdul Taufiq, 24, Shoib Khan, 22, Atib Rashid, 22, and Yusuf Bahadur Khan.
Irfan Sheikh is the seventh accused to be arrested in the Umesh Kolhe murder case. On Sunday, a police officer said that the number of arrests could increase.
“He (mastermind) was arrested last night. He’s being interrogated. They have a helpline group-Rehbar group. Several people connected to them. 7 accused have been arrested so far. The number of arrests may rise after the arrest of the main accused,” said Nilima Araj, Police Inspector of City Kotwali police station when asked about the mastermind of the Amravati murder.
Investigators so far believe that the chemist was murdered allegedly in exchange for a social media post backing BJP's Nupur Sharma, who made controversial remarks on the Prophet in a televised debate.
(With ANI inputs)