It said that the murder accused had developed a hatred towards the Hindu community over several recent issues like CAA/NRC, Hijab and cow protection. “They wanted to target a Hindu man in order to terrorise the community further
Representational Image. News 18
Bengaluru: Following the investigation in the barbaric murder of the Bajrang Dal worker Harsha in Bengaluru’s Shivamogga, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed 750 pages of charge sheet and said that Harsha was killed with an intention to terrorise Hindus living in the state.
The charge sheet says the accused men Mohammed Kasif, Riyan Sharif and Asif Ulla Khan alias Chikku thought Muslim community was being looked down upon in Karnataka due to the Hijab row that was going on around that time of murder in which Karnataka high court had ruled out wearing of Hijab.
It said that the murder accused had developed a hatred towards the Hindu community over several recent issues like CAA/NRC, Hijab and cow protection. “They wanted to target a Hindu man in order to terrorise the community further,” said the charge sheet- adding that slogans like ‘Kafir Bajrang dal walon ko maaro’ were chanted by them.
A group of 8 men was formed in order to assassinate Harsha who were asked to keep an eye on Harsha during his last days. They followed him to track his movement before carrying out the organized murder, said the charge sheet.In addition to creating fear, old enmity is also cited as the reason for Harsha’s murder since he was a political worker in the area and so organized many pro-Hindu events.
The charge sheet said the accused men used to have fights with Harsha for trivial reasons. Harsha used to organize pro-Hindu programmes in localities inhabited by Muslims.
Kasif and Riyan did not tolerate this behaviour of Harsha and had attacked him thrice. Cases were filed in this regard in local police stations also. In addition, Kasif and Harsha gangs had also fought in Shivamogga prison once.
Considering the gang enmity and other reasons, Riyan and Asif hatched a plot to kill Harsha. They burgled a house at Kumsi for money to buy lethal weapons from Shivamogga and Bhadravathi. Riyan had warned Harsha that he would not be spared if he criticised Muslim community every now and then.
Riyan’s gang kept a watch on the movements of Harsha for around 15 days and planned the murder at Clark Market. Kasif and Riyan had instructed their eight accomplices to keep an eye on Harsha. On February 20, Harsha was brutally murdered at Bharathi Colony.
(With inputs from agencies)
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