Almost a month after a Hindu tailor named Kanhaiya Lal was murdered by two Islamic radicals in Rajasthan’s Udaipur for supporting Nupur Sharma, several reports have surfaced saying that the business in the area where the incident occurred on June 28 has reduced by 90 percent. Kanhaiya Lal was murdered in the Maladaas street area which is known as one of the crowded markets of Udaipur.
According to the Dainik Bhasker report, there are a total of 15 shops on Maladaas street in Udaipur which generated good business until June 28. After the murder of the Hindu tailor, almost 13 of the total 15 shops prefer to remain shut. People including the customers and the shopkeepers are scared to even enter the street for business.
Kanhaiya Lal was killed by two Islamic radicals named Mohammed Riyaz and Mohammed Ghous for extending support to ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma after her alleged ‘blasphemous’ remarks. The Islamists, who had entered the shop pretending to be customers, slit Kanhaiya Lal’s throat and stabbed him around 26 times on his body, especially on the neck. They also shot the murder on a video and released it on social media platforms. After the incident, the killers had released a video claiming responsibility for the act. The duo had also threatened PM Modi of murder.
One of the tailors named Mahavir from the Maladaas street who owns the ‘Latest Tailors’ shop spoke to Dainik Bhasker. He said that his shop is close to deceased Kanhaiya Lal’s shop and mentioned that people were scared to enter the area after Kanhaiya’s murder.
“It has been more than 20 days, but people are still scared. Two people work in my shop. One of them is sick. The second one is scared after the massacre. He informed me that he doesn’t want to work here. His family is not allowing him to leave the house for work. Everyone is scared and shocked to see a policeman standing in uniform outside our shop. Policemen stand outside the shop for two rounds every day”, he added.
According to another businessman named Mayank Lodha who is a gold trader in Udaipur, the customers call the shopkeepers to ask about the market situation before leaving their houses. “Before the customer comes, they call and ask about the condition of the market. They decide to come here only after knowing that everything is normal”, he said. He also added that after Kanhaiya Lal’s murder several other businessmen also received death threats which increased the level of panic in the city.
However, SP Vikas Sharma informed the media that now the market is completely normal. He stated that the Police personnel deployed at Malda’s street talks to the business owners daily. “Three businessmen have received death threats after Kanhaiya Lal’s murder. Investigation in all three cases is underway to discover the identity of the callers. The police are also taking the help of cyber cell”, he added assuring that there is no need for any customer or businessman to survive in fear.
The curfew-like situation continues to scare the citizens of Udaipur even after 24 days of the brutal murder.
