AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad rural police on Friday announced that they have arrested the two alleged shooters and a cleric, who was allegedly involved in the conspiracy, for the killing of a 27-year-old man in Dhandhuka on Tuesday.
According to police officers, the shooters were identified as Sabbir Chopda, 25, and Imtiyaz Pathan, 27, both residents of Dhandhuka.
Police officers said the cleric, Maulana Mohammed Ayyub Javrawala, 51, a resident of Jamalpur in Ahmedabad, allegedly conspired in the murder and gave a revolver to the shooters, with which Chopda shot Kishan Bharwad.
“On January 25, at around 5pm, Chopda and Pathan followed Bharwad on their motorcycle and fired two rounds at him. One bullet hit Bharwad and he died on the spot,” said a police officer.
After the murder, the Ahmedabad rural SP formed teams of the local crime branch, special operations group and local police to nab the shooters.
Police gathered CCTV footage of the crime scene and identified the accused, who were seen riding their motorcycle parallel to Bharwad and shooting him. Cops nabbed the two on Thursday. They revealed that the killing was an act of revenge as Bharwad had made objectionable posts on social media about Islam.
On January 9, an FIR was filed against Bharwad for allegedly criticizing people of a certain religion and sharing videos and photos of decapitation.
Bharwad made objectionable remarks about certain religious figures and said in his social media post that people are not allowed to make comments about a certain religion. Bharwad was arrested in the case and was later released. The accused then allegedly decided to kill Bharwad for his objectionable comments against Islam.
In the second week of January, Chopda and Pathan met Javrawala and plotted to kill Bharwad, said a police officer.
“Javrawala gave the two a pistol and five cartridges during their meeting at Jamalpur and sent them back to Dhandhuka to kill Bharwad. Chopda and Pathan returned to Dhandhuka, and staked out Bharwad for four days before carrying out the killing,” said the officer.
Police officers said Chopda had a year ago contacted a cleric in Delhi through Instagram and met him in Mumbai nine months ago. That cleric introduced Chopda to Javrawala and told Chopda what action could be taken against persons who make objectionable comments against Islam.
In October, the cleric from Delhi came to the Shah-e-Alam area of the city, where Chopda and Javrawala met him, police officers said.
The two alleged shooters were booked for murder and criminal conspiracy along charges under the Arms Act. They were produced before a court and sent to police custody for nine days.
Javrawala was arrested on Friday evening.
