On June 28, a Hindu tailor named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered by two Islamists identified as Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Mohammed Gos for an alleged post in support of former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nupur Sharma. It has now come to light that his name, photograph and location were leaked and made viral by his neighbour Nazim who had also filed a complaint against Kanhaiya Lal for the alleged post.
On June 15, 2022, five days after the initial complaint by Nazim, Kanhaiyal had approached Police for legal action and had sought protection. In his application to the Police, he said few days prior to the complaint, his son accidentally shared a post on Facebook while playing games on his mobile phone. Two days after the post was made, two men approached him at his shop and demanded to see his phone. They told him about the post, to which Kanhaiya Lal replied that he did not know how to operate the phone, and his son used it to play games. They deleted the post and warned him not to repeat it.
On June 11, 2022, he received a call from the Dhanmandi Police station about a complaint filed against him. He was called to the Police station, and upon reaching there, he found that the complaint was filed against him by his neighbour Nazim. He told Lal that the complaint was filed under pressure by his community. Nazim also claimed he knew Lal did not know how to operate the phone and could not have shared the post.
Later, Lal found out that Nazim and five other people from his community were doing Reece of his shop. They did not let him open the shop. He alleged in his complaint that five to seven people kept doing reece at his shop and would have killed him if he had opened the shop.
Kanhaiya Lal further alleged in his complaint that Nazim and others leaked his information, including his photograph and address, in their community groups. They allegedly provoked the members of the community that if they saw Kanhaiya Lal anywhere or if he opened a shop, they should kill him. He said, “They are pressuring me not to open my shop. If I open my shop, they will kill me.”
He requested Police to help him open his shop and provide protection.
Police allegedly ignored his plea
Reports suggest that the Police did not provide security on Kanhaiya Lal’s plea. ASI Bhanwarlal called those who were threatening him and had initiated a ‘compromise’ between Kanhaiya Lal and the others. He told Lal nothing would happen as there was a compromise between Lal and the other party. He told Lal to take care and inform the Police if he suspected anything.
Lal also submitted a letter to Police that as there was a compromise, he did not want any legal action against the five. Now, after Kanhaiya Lal has been killed, ASI Bhanwarlal has been suspended, and ADG Law and Order Hawasingh Ghumaria said they would question the five who signed a compromise agreement regarding how the incident took place despite the compromise.
Questions raised on the inaction of Rajasthan Police and administration
Questions are being raised about the inaction of the Rajasthan Police in the matter. Executive Editor TV9 Network, Aditya Raj Kaul raised several questions on the inaction of the Rajasthan Police. He questioned why security was not given to Kanhaiya Lal. Further, why those 5-7 Islamists who were threatening Lal were not arrested by the Police. He also questioned why the Rajasthan government failed to fix the responsibility of the cops who did not act timely. He questioned if there was political pressure to save the culprits.
1) Why did Rajasthan Police not give #KanhaiyaLal security?
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 29, 2022
2) Why were those 5-7 Islamist radicals not arrested for threatening him?
3) Why has Rajasthan Govt not fixed responsibility and acted against the cops who didn’t act?
4) Was there political pressure to save culprits?
Kashmiri Hindus were similarly betrayed by their own neighbours
The way Kanhaiya Lal’s location was leaked, the way he was threatened, and the way he was have been murdered are quite similar to what had happened to Kashmiri Hindus during the exodus. It is very much similar to the brutal murder from 1990 when terrorists had come searching for engineer BK Ganjoo, who had hidden in a rice barrel. He would have been alive today had his location not been disclosed to the terrorists by his own neighbours. He was shot dead by the terrorists who fired multiple rounds at the rice barrel allowing the blood to drip out of the container. The rice soaked in the blood was then forcefully fed to Ganjoo’s wife. The incident was also depicted in the film The Kashmir Files.
Another victim Girija Tickoo was also called by her colleagues to collect her paycheck. As per reports, her movements were informed to local Islamists and Tickoo was kidnapped from a colleague’s home, to be tortured and later cut into pieces with a saw.
