Umesh Kolhe, a chemist living in Maharashtra’s Amravati, was murdered by four Muslim goons while he was returning from his pharmacy that night on June 22. While the reasons of the murder are not clear yet, Maharashtra BJP Spokesperson Shivrai Kulkarni has alleged that he was killed for supporting Nupur Sharma. Kulkarni has said that the police should investigate whether Kolhe was killed over a post in support of Nupur Sharma on social media.
Kolhe ran a pharmacy ‘Amit Medical’ in the Tehsil office area, in Maharashtra’s Amravati. On the night of the murder, on June 22, Umesh Kolhe was on his way home with his son Sanket and daughter-in-law Vaishnavi on different bikes. In the attack, Kolhe was attacked with a knife from the back on his neck in which he was seriously injured. With heavy blood overflowing, Kolhe died on the spot.
Kolhe’s son and daughter-in-law rushed to his aid, but the assailants had managed to escape because of darkness. As told by Kolhe’s son to the police, there were two men who stopped the vehicle and attacked it. The Crime Branch and the City Kotwali Police launched a joint investigation and arrested the two suspects named Mudassir Ahmed Sheikh Ibrahim and Shah Rukh Pathan Inayat Khan. The police have also arrested two more accused – Abdul Taufiq and Shoaib Khan in connection with Kolhe’s murder.
It was learnt that the assailants were doing reiki of the area in which Kolhe was killed. While it is suspected that there is a religious angle to the case, the Amravati City Police have said that they would continue to investigate the matter involving through every probable angle.
Maharashtra BJP leader and spokesperson Shivrai Kulkarni has alleged that the case might involve a Nupur Sharma angle to it. Kulkarni has said that the police should investigate whether Umesh Kolhe’s death was avenged over his posts supportive of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Social Media sites. “Since the police has Kolhe’s phone, it should probed whether he was getting death threats over posts supporting Nupur Sharma. It doesn’t look like this murder was done over normal loot,” Kulkarni said.
