NIA recreates sequence of events in Amaravati chemist’s murder case

New Delhi. July 14: A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday recreated the sequence of events that led to the alleged murder of a chemist here last month, police sources said.

The central probe agency brought to Amravati from Mumbai two of the seven accused arrested in the case to reconstruct the crime scene, news agency PTI reported.

Chemist Umesh Kolhe, 54, died after being stabbed in the neck around 10 pm on June 21 when he was returning home after closing his shop. He was murdered for allegedly sharing a post on some WhatsApp groups in support of now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Mohammad.

On Wednesday morning, the NIA team brought the two accused - Taufiq alias Nanu Sheikh Taslim, 24, and Atib Rashid Adil Rashid, 22 - and recreated the sequence of events, the police sources said.

"Today, a five-member NIA team came to the city by Amba Express and informed the police about their visit. The team took both the accused to a hospital for their medical check-up in two separate vehicles. After the check-up, the agency took the duo from Lalkhadi to tehsil office, where Kolhe's shop is located. They were later taken to Ghantaghar lane, where Kolhe was murdered," a source said.

The NIA team took every detail from these accused in connection with the murder. The investigators interrogated the duo at Kotwali police station and also searched their homes, sources said.

While Taslim is a resident of Bismilla Nagar in Lalkhadi, Rashid lived in Maulana Azad Nagar. The NIA had earlier taken over the custody of all the seven accused in the case. The alleged mastermind of the case is Shaikh Irfan Shaikh Rahim, the officials have said.