By PTI
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested three more persons in connection with the murder of Kishan Boliya, who was shot dead recently over an alleged objectionable Facebook post, an official said on Thursday.
With the latest arrests on Wednesday, a total of eight persons, including two Muslim clerics, have been apprehended by the ATS so far in the case, Assistant Commissioner of Police BH Chavda said.
Boliya was allegedly shot dead by Shabbir Chopda and Imtiyaz Pathan at Dhandhuka town of Ahmedabad district on January 25, over a Facebook post, which the accused claimed had hurt their religious sentiments.
Notably, Chopda and his friend Pathan had earlier also planned to kill Porbandar resident Sajan Odedara for sharing a similar Facebook post, Chavda said.
The ATS on Wednesday arrested Rajkot-based pistol supplier Rameez Seta, Porbandar resident Mohammad Hussain Khatri and Matin Modan of Dhandhuka.
“The two accused had gone to Porbandar to kill Odedara who had shared a similar post. At that time, Khatri had shown them Odedara’s house, provided lodging and helped the duo in gathering information. As their intended target was in jail at the time, the duo could not kill him and eventually returned home,” the official said.
Modan had provided lodging, food and Rs 8,000 cash to Chopda and Pathan when they were on the run after Boliya’s murder in Dhandhuka, the official said.
The pistol used in the killing had originally belonged to Seta, who then gave it to one Azeem Sama.
Jamalpur-based cleric Mohammad Ayub Javrawala had borrowed the weapon from Sama some time back and gave it to Chopda for the killing, he said.
The ATS has already arrested Shabbir, Pathan, Sama, Javarawala and a Delhi-based cleric Maulvi Qamar Gani Usmani, who runs an organisation called Tahreek Farogh-e-Islam (TFI) to take legal action against people who insult Islam.
While the ATS has sought details from banks to find out the source of Usmani’s funding, various central agencies are also investigating the case on different angles, such as terror funding and connection with terror outfits, the official said.
Usmani had asked Chopda, who was considerably radicalised, to be in touch with Javarawala, and when he expressed his wish to teach Boliya a lesson, Javarawala gave him the pistol and cartridges to carry out the murder, Chavda said.
The ATS has learnt that Usmani was booked in a case recently in Tripura, he said.
The ATS has termed Boliya’s murder as an act of terror and has invoked stringent provisions of the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GUJCTOC) Act and the UAPA against the accused.
