Speaking at a press conference in Amravati, Singh said police had detained seven suspects, including the murder's planner, and were still looking for one more person.
Singh stated that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will get the case's investigation in a day or two. Kolhe was ostensibly murdered for endorsing Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson whose remarks on the Prophet Mohammad had caused enormous anger.
NIA director Dinkar Gupta met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on July 4 at his office in the nation's capital, days after the Ministry of Home Affairs instructed the NIA to take over the investigation into the brutal killings in the Rajasthani city of Udaipur and the Maharashtrian town of Amravati.
Two guys murdered a tailor named Kanhaiyalal Kumar on June 28 in broad daylight inside his store in Udaipur, and on June 21, six men assassinated Umesh Kolhe, the proprietor of a pharmaceutical business in Amravati.
A district court in Amravati ordered Irfan Sheikh, the murderer's mastermind, and the main accused to remain in police detention until July 7. Irfan Sheikh, the accused, was taken into custody by Amravati police on Sunday in Nagpur.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on July 3, asserted that the murder of a 54-year-old chemist (Umesh Kolhe) in Amravati was a "very serious incident", adding that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also probing the international connection in the case.
"Amravati incident very serious, killing is barbaric. Accused, the mastermind has been nabbed. NIA investigating it and finding if there is some international connection. This was initially portrayed as theft, that too will be investigated (sic)," said Fadnavis to reporters.
The six suspects have been identified as Yusufkan Bahadur Khan (age 44), Mudassir Ahmad (age 22), Shah Rukh Pathan (age 25), Abdul Thoufique (age 24), Shoaib Khan (age 22), and Atib Rashid (age 22).
(With agency inputs)
