The murder of a cow shelter worker in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district last month was an “act of terror” aimed at spreading fear ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the police has claimed.
Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava confirmed that the provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act (UAPA), 2008, was slapped on two of the six accused in the case. He added that this was perhaps the first time in Chhattisgarh that the UAPA has been invoked in a case that does not deal with Naxalism.
It was on January 20 that Sadhram Yadav, a 48-year-old cow shelter worker, was found murdered with his throat slit. The police arrested six persons, including a minor, in connection with the murder. While the incident that took place in Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma’s home turf had drawn considerable public attention due to the communal undertone, the police had not disclosed the motive till now.
‘Bid to instil fear’
On Monday, Mr. Pallava told journalists that the probe so far had revealed that the motive was “to spread panic and instil fear among Hindus”. He further said that the main accused Ayaj Khan and one of this accomplices had travelled to Kashmir and other places where they had interacted with people associated with terrorist organisations.
“After verifying all the electronic records and the posts made by the accused on his social media platforms, it had come to light that before the Ram temple function on January 22, he [Yadav] was murdered by slitting his throat in ISIS [Islamic State or IS, the terrorist group], style to spread terror in the Hindu society. The motive behind the murder is to spread panic and produce fear,” Mr. Pallava said.
He added that Ayaj Khan has been allegedly involved in several cases in the past, including the 2021 riots when two communities clashed over hoisting of flags. The riots, along with the Bemetara communal violence case, had become a major election issue in the Assembly election last year.
In those elections, Mr. Sharma, who was facing allegations in the 2021 riots case, contested on BJP ticket from Kawardha and defeated Congress veteran Mohammed Akbar.
