Rajsamand (Rajasthan): A Muslim labourer in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district was hacked and then burnt alive over alleged ‘love jihad’. The man accused of the murder can be seen in a viral video beating up the victim and then setting him on fire.
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria set up a Special Investigation Team on Thursday to investigate the killing and look at a possible communal angle. Kataria said, "The main accused Shambhulal Regar has been arrested."
The victim, identified as Mohammed Afrazul, was a migrant from West Bengal’s Malda district and was working in Rajsamand as a contract labourer. The man seen as the attacker in the video has been identified as Shambhulal Regar, a local.
According to police, Regar, had first lured the victim to the spot promising some work, only to kill him brutally.
The killer got a friend along to record the video that shows the entire incident in vivid detail. Afrazul is seen pleading with his murderer and crying for help while the accused keeps clobbering him with an axe and later burns him alive.
The presence of a young girl in the video has fuelled rumours that it could be a case of love jihad and that the labourer was in an alleged illicit relationship with the accused’s sister.
The police have recovered the half-burnt body from the spot along with other items such as an axe, and a scooter.
The Rajnagar police have registered a case under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearing of evidence) of the IPC.
“Afrazul worked in Rajsamand as a labourer and his family also lived with him. While the motive behind the murder is not clear, we will get there as soon as we apprehend Regar. Several police teams are on the lookout for him,” said Ramsumer Meena, Station House Officer of Rajnagar police station.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Pankaj Kumar Singh added, “We are trying to arrest the accused. We are also questioning the family members of Shambhulal Regar. The alleged communal angle is also being probed. We will have more information after the arrests.”
However, sources suggest that prima facie it is a case of rivalry between the two, which could have a possible ‘love jihad’ angle.
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