As similarities emerge in Lal, Kolhe murders, IB digs deeper into patterns by Islamists

The similarities in the murders of Kolhe and Lal has prompted the Intelligence Bureau to dig deeper into such cases to try and understand the pattern behind it

New Delhi, Jul 04: With the National Investigation Agency (NIA) being directed to take up the investigation into the murder of Amaravati based pharmacist Umesh Kolhe by Islamists on June 21, the Intelligence Bureau is now looking at similar incidents to join the dots.

The murder of Kolhe and Kanhaiya Lal of Udaipur are similar in nature and the Intelligence Bureau has been tasked with finding out if there is a pattern to it.

The FIR by the NIA says that the the killing of Kolhe amounts to an act of terror and has a national security angle to it.

The NIA had made a similar statement after it took over the case relating to the murder of Lal. Both Lal and Kolhe were killed by Islamists and they met with their end for showing support to Nupur Sharma, the now suspended BJP spokesperson whose comments against Prophet Mohammad had triggered a huge outrage.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that it is clear that there is a pattern to the killings. It was committed with a motive of terrorising a section of people in the country.

There is also a pattern to the killings and hence we are looking at other cases were people have been targeted by Islamists.

The agencies would also look at why the motive was shown as robbery for the murder of Kolhe. The Amaravati Commissioner, Aarti Singh registered the crime as a robbery case under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Following the murder of Lal in Udaipur the Intelligence Bureau officials had visited Amaravati to check the similarities in the case.

It was found, while the killing of Kolhe was registered as a case of robbery, the Rs 35,000 that he was carrying with him at the time of the killing was intact at the crime scene.

Following the death of Lal, the Intelligence community were given an indication from the DGP of Maharashtra that Kolhe was killed for supporting Nupur Sharma. The case was similar in the case of Lal at Udaipur as well.

In both the cases the analysis of the electronic devices have suggested that the killers were radicalised and decided to kill Kolhe and Lal.

The officer cited above said that while in the case of Lal's killers it was found that they have links with the Pakistan based Dawat-e-Islami, in the case of Kolhe's murderers it is yet to be ascertained who they are linked to. However it is more important to identify the motive and the radicalisation that has taken place in these cases.

The manner in which the murders happed it looks like they were inspired by the ISIS.

While in both cases the victims were killed by slitting their throats in the Udaipur incident, the killers recorded the video and even claimed responsibility for it. Over the years the Islamic State has been urging Islamists to use knives as a weapon of terror. This is because knives unlike bombs are not detectable and it is not an offence to own a knife.

Further the ISIS has in the past indulged in slitting of throats and have also posed videos of the same through their propaganda channel. If one takes this into account then the Udaipur murder is eerily similar to what the ISIS has been doing.