New Delhi: In a fresh development in the Udaipur tailor murder case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested a 19-year-old man, who allegedly played an "important role" in the incident.
Mohammad Javed, a resident of Sindhi Sarkar Ki Haweli, Kheradiwala, was the eighth accused arrested in connection with the gruesome killing of Kanhaiya Lal by two assailants armed with sharp-edged weapons at his shop in Udaipur's Maldas street, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
"Mohammad Javed, who was arrested on Thursday, played an important role in the conspiracy to kill Kanhaiya Lal by conducting reconnaissance and passing on the information about the victim's presence at the shop to the main killer, Riyaz, prior to the attack," he said.
According to sources, Mohammad Javed used to sell artificial jewelry on Maldas Street in Udaipur. It was through Wasim, a neighbor of Mohammad Javed's shop, that he got acquainted with Riyaz Akhtari.
On June 27, Mohammad Javed met Riyaz Akhtari and on the day of the incident, the former gave the information to the prime accused that Kanhaiyalal had opened his shop.
Lal was killed with a cleaver inside his tailoring shop on June 28 and the NIA took over the case the next day. Earlier, seven accused, including the main culprits, were arrested during separate raids on June 29, July 1, July 4, and July 9.
The gruesome attack by Riaz Akhtari on the tailor was recorded on a mobile phone by Ghouse Mohammad and the video was posted online.
In another video, the duo said they hacked Lal to death to avenge an alleged insult to Islam. Both were arrested within hours of the killing.