Udaipur Murder: The tailor's murder has sparked tension in Rajasthan.
The Udaipur tailor who was killed in the most horrific way possible had returned to his shop after days of absence, his wife told NDTV today before his funeral procession left their home.
Kanhaiya Lal had skipped work for several days after he received death threats over his social media posts, his wife, Jashoda, explained to NDTV. Yesterday, he decided to attend to business again. He had been at work for a few hours when two men arrived, posing as customers.
Kanhaiya Lal, age 48, began measuring one of them; suddenly, he was attacked with a giant cleaver. The other man filmed the murder in gory detail. Then, both left the shop on a motorcycle, their faces covered to conceal their identity.
Gos Mohammad and Riyaz Akhtari, the two men seen in the grotesque video, were arrested last night. The Home Ministry has assigned the National Investigation Agency or NIA, which handles terror investigations, to the matter.
The accused men released two videos on social media - the first of Kanhaiya Lal's killing; the second, a confession that gloated about the murder, describing it as a beheading, and threatened that they would target the Prime Minister.
The police is maintaining a heavy presence in Udaipur, where curfew has been introduced in several parts of the city.
Kanhaiya Lal, about three weeks ago, had posted remarks in support of Nupur Sharma, who was a BJP spokesperson when she made offensive remarks about Prophet Mohammad in a televised debate. The comments triggered wide protests in India and condemnation from Gulf countries. The government sought to reassure them that the comments were of an individual and that India respects all religions.
The pair of men in the video said that they were avenging "an insult to Islam" and also referred to Nupur Sharma.
According to the police, a complaint was filed against Kanhaiya Lal on June 10 after his posts and he was arrested. On June 15, he complained about death threats, which he escalated to the local police. That was followed by police-mediated sessions between the tailor and the complainants and the matter seemed settled with Kanhaiya Lal giving a written assurance that he did not want further assistance from the police.