Gujarat man killed for violating communal sentiments

A delegate team from Gujarat, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday came to Delhi’s Daryaganj post a warrant voicing to arrest a clergy person for allegedly provoking two believes whom he supplied a loaded gun to shoot Kishan Bharwad, a 27-year-old resident of Gujarat’s Dhandhuka.

In connection with the case, duo brothers from Rajkot were also charged by the special operations group of the state police for replenishing the pistol and five cartridges that has to be used for killing Kishan Bharwad. According to the source, the entire plot for murder was choreographed by Maulana Qamar Ganhi Islam of Daryaganj.

As per his statement, kishan’s social media post had utterly hurt religious(Islam) sentiments. Hence, in the urge to take revenge Ganhi had hired two shooters to kill him, to present an example if in future anyone tempts to do so.

The police claimed that ” the cleric had been previously charged with fomenting communal violence in Tripura also and has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last November…Islami was stepping out of an office belonging to his organisation Tehreek-e-Farogh-e-Islami when he was stopped and arrested,” the official said.

“In April 2021, he had posted a video on social media in which he makes a stimulating speech calling for a backlash against people who post blasphemous content. In another of his sermons, he mumbles one can go to any extent to punish a person who makes blasphemous statements against Islam in future.”

Sticking to his statement, the ATS openly declared Islami had been in touch with Shabbir Chopda, who allegedly murdered Bharwad on January 25, and Imtiyaz Pathan who was riding the motorcycle in which the duo travelled. Chopda was among one of Islami’s follow Islami over social media and had met him several times. ATS officials allege Islami lent Chopda the murder weapon and helped him sketch the whole plot.

The two brothers speculated over procuring the pistol and ammunition were eye-witnessed by Azim Bashir Sama, a resident of Dudhsagar Road in Rajkot, and his sibling Wasim. Both have been handed over to the ATS for interrogation. To date, a bunch of Six people, including Chopda and Jamalpur-based cleric Mohammed Ayyub Javrawala, have been arrested in the blaspheme case.

Updated by Zeba Gouhar