Truth be told: Udaipur killing has Pak links

The links to Dawat-e-islami, a Pakistan-based group, have emerged stronger in the course of the investigation into the Udaipur killing

New Delhi, July 19: As the National Investigation Agency digs deeper into the killing of a Hindu tailor in Udaipur, several international links have cropped up. The NIA has found that one of the killers, Riyaz Attari had called several numbers in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered in Udaipur last month. The killers recorded the killing and also posted a video claiming responsibility for the same. The probe also revealed that Attari had visited Saudi Arabia in 2019 where he met with a Pakistani national.

Sources tell OneIndia that Attari kept in touch with the Pakistani national Umar. Now the agencies are scanning the calls that were made by the two killers. It was found that the main accused along with the co-conspirators had used VPN on their mobile with the intention of hiding their internet protocol address.

They used this technique to hide calls and were in touch with some persons in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. A few calls were also made a few days before the murder, the source cited above said while also adding that the decision to eliminate Lal was taken at a meeting that was held on June 20.

However what has become amply clear that the killers were followers of the Pakistan-based Dawat-e-Islami. The second killer Ghouse Mohammad had visited Karachi in 2014. The outfit which claims to be a non-political and non-violent organisation inspired by the Sufi tradition has been in the news earlier too for a stabbing incident that took place in France. While the outfit claims no direct link, its followers have been involved in several incidents in the past for carrying out or trying to carry out terrorist attacks.

The organisation was first established with the intention of diluting the Tablighi Jamaat. The group says it is non-political and non-violent and is a movement for the preaching of the Quran and Sunnah.

The Dawat-e-Islam is present in 194 nations and has over 26,000 volunteers and preachers who spread the teachings of the group. It also says that it has converted many non-Muslims to Islam as part of its Madani Qafila trips. While its presence is largely in Pakistan and Bangladesh, it has managed to spread to the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. It also operates at 12 religious centres in Greece.