Congress alleges BJP connection of main accused in Udaipur tailor murder

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday alleged that one of the prime accused in the case of the brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur was a "BJP member" and hence the reason why the central government has taken a sudden step to hand over the case to the NIA.

In a press conference held at the Congress headquarters, the party's media chief Pawan Khera said that a media group had made a very sensational revelation regarding the Udaipur incident, pointing to BJP's links with Riyaz Attari. Certain reports have referred to the accused as Riaz Akhtari.

"The killer of Kanhaiya Lal, Riyaz Attari is a member of the BJP," Khera said in a tweet after the press conference.

Earlier in the day, BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya dismissed the claim as "fake news", responding to a Congress leader's tweet referring to the accused's BJP connections.

"I am not surprised that you are peddling #FakeNews. The Udaipur murderers WERN'T members of the BJP. Their attempt to infiltrate was like the LTTE assassin's attempt to enter the Congress to kill Rajiv Gandhi," he tweeted.

Congress should stop fooling around with terror and national security," Malviya said.

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was murdered on Tuesday afternoon by two goons who claimed responsibility for the killing and posted a gruesome video of the crime online. Accused Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

Khera cited pictures and posts linking Attari with BJP leaders Irshad Chainwala and Mohammad Tahir at the presser.

"It has also come to the fore in the same disclosure that the main accused Riyaz Attari often participated in the programmes of Rajasthan BJP leader and former minister Gulabchand Kataria," he alleged.

"Not only this, pictures of the main accused Riyaz Attari attending the meetings of the BJP's Rajasthan minority unit are also in front of the world," Khera claimed.

It is clear, according to Khera, through posts by BJP leader Irshad Chainwala on November 30, 2018, on Facebook and by Mohammad Tahir on February 3, 2019, October 27, 2019, August 10, 2021, and November 28, 2021, that he was not only "close to BJP leaders" but also an active member of the BJP.

"Is the Bharatiya Janata Party, through its spokespersons and leaders, trying to take advantage by polarising the country," he asked. Khera said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had welcomed the transfer of this case to the NIA.

However, in light of "new facts", the question that arises is whether the BJP-led government at the Centre moved quickly to transfer the case to the NIA due to these reasons, he said.

With PTI inputs