The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Jaipur on Friday granted bail to Farhad Mohammad alias Babla in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case. This is the first bail in the case to an accused.
Lal, a tailor by profession, was murdered in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on June 28, 2022 by two men. Nine men, including two alleged killers of Lal, have been arrested out of the 11 accused. The two accused at large are Pakistani nationals.
The NIA had charged 30-year-old Farhad under Section 4/25 (1B) (b) of Arms Act, 1959. The bail was granted to Farhad by special NIA court judge Ravindra Kumar.
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On Friday, the court stated in the bail order: “The investigating officer in the case has clearly charged the accused under Arms Act whereas there is no charge against the accused for being involved in any offences.”
Advocate Akhil Chaudhary, the counsel for Farhad, told Outlook, “My client had no connection with the murder of Kanahiya Lal. My client belongs to a family of artisans who are into meenakari craft. The NIA had arrested him in 2022 after recovering a sword from his family house, which he had brought from a craft fair. The sword was blunt too, as stated by the forensic report. And on basis of the sword, he was booked under the Arms Act in the chargesheet.”
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The Special Public Prosecutor TP Sharma representing NIA had cited the possession of sword and his participation in the protests as the ground to oppose the bail application.
“My client was innocent and was put in a high security jail in Ajmer meant for criminals for the last one year. Farhad had attended the protests against Nupur Sharma in support of Prophet Mohammad in his own personal capacity and had nothing to do with the tailor’s murder,” added Chaudhary.
Farhad used to run a fast food stall in Saving locality of Udaipur.
The status of the Kanhaiya Lal murder case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is conducting the investigation into the murder case, has arrested nine people since taking over the probe. The NIA had on June 29, 2022 re-registered the case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after taking it over from the Rajasthan Police.
The case was initially registered at Dhanmandi Police Station in Udaipur. The two assailants of Lal —Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad— had posed as customers and entered his tailoring shop in Udaipur before hacking him to death on June 28, 2022.
Riaz and Ghouse also filmed the gruesome attack on Lal and circulated videos bragging about the killing and saying that they attacked Lal for allegedly sharing a post on social media in support of former suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who was facing national and international condemnation at the time for comments on Prophet Muhammed.
Days before his horrific murder, Lal had complained about death threats over a social media post in support of Sharma. Lal was arrested on June 10 after a complaint against him over the post. However, he was released on bail the next day.
