Umesh Kolhe’s brother describes how he was killed because he backed Nupur Sharma

*Paromita Das

 

Chemist UmeshKolhe was murdered by some Islamists in Amravati, Maharashtra, on the evening of June 22, 2022, for allegedly sharing a social media post endorsing former Bharat Janata Party spokeswoman Nupur Sharma. The 54-year-old doctor operated the “Amit Medical” pharmacy in Amravati, Maharashtra’s Tehsil office district. The National Investigation team has taken over the case investigation ten days after UmeshKolhe’s murder. While initially claiming that it was a botched robbery attempt, the local police have now finally acknowledged that Kolhe was murdered for publicly endorsing Nupur Sharma.

Mahesh Kolhe, UmeshKolhe’s brother, revealed details about his brother’s murder to the news organization ANI in the meantime. While his brother had forwarded some messages in favor of Nupur Sharma in some WhatsApp groups, he claimed that they didn’t believe it would lead to any problems. He added that neither his family nor his brother had received any threats.

He never received any threats, according to Mahesh Kolhe. I’ve never heard my brother mention receiving any death threats. He never disclosed anything like that. Since the day of the incident, the mobile has been in the police’s possession. As a result, we were unable to even cross-check the data to determine whether or not he had received a threat call. Yes, he has sent some WhatsApp forwards that date back almost 15 days. We had no reason to believe anyone was responsible for his murder because we did not know why anyone would do it. Therefore, there is no reason to suspect anyone.

#WATCH | My brother forwarded some messages about Nupur Sharma in some Whatsapp groups but we're not able to understand why was he killed because of 2-4 forwarded messages? He didn't forward them to anyone individually: Mahesh Kolhe, brother of Umesh Kolhe who was murdered pic.twitter.com/njk8X7IGnF

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2022

Mahesh Kolhe commented on the inaccurate information that was reported by some of the newspapers, saying, “In the early stages of the investigation, we were only told that two accused are arrested and then four accused are taken into custody, and so on. However, the precise motive for the murder was kept a secret from us. Some newspapers reported that the incident was one of theft or robbery. Although the police officials assured us that they had never told a reporter anything like that, there was not a fight between the attackers and my brother, despite what some newspapers later reported. The only thing that happened was that they arrived, cut the knife, and fled.

#WATCH | He didn't receive threats from anyone… We were told that during primary investigation, 2-4 people were arrested but some newspapers, without proper investigation started publishing that he was killed because of loot/robbery, but nothing as such happened: Mahesh Kolhe pic.twitter.com/bXh38FfNYR

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2022

The brother of the deceased Umesh Kolhe continued, “My brother sent a few WhatsAppforwards a few days ago. Nupur Sharma was the subject of the forwards. In some groups, they were disseminated similarly to other messages. In private chats, he didn’t communicate those messages to anyone. But we still don’t know why someone gets killed just for sending a message to a certain group.

UmeshKolhe was traveling home on June 22 on different bikes that night with his son Sanket and daughter-in-law Vaishnavi when the murderers stopped him and slit his throat with a Chinese knife. Kolhe was seriously hurt in the attack when a knife was thrust into the back of his neck. Kolhe bled profusely and passed away instantly. 5 people have reportedly been detained thus far, according to reports. Mudasir, Shahrukh, Abdul, Shoaib, and Atib are among them.

Sheikh Irfan is the mastermind. On July 2, 2022, Sheikh Rahim was taken into custody in Nagpur. The defendant, who also provided logistical support, is accused of inspiring Shamim and his friends to carry out the murder. He also runs an NGO.

Prior to that, the police had detained Dr. Yusuf Khan Bahadur Khan (age 44), the sixth suspect, on Friday night in Amravati. Veterinarian Dr. Yusuf Khan oversees a clinic in the area. Khan, according to the police, had posted a message on WhatsApp groups criticizing UmeshKolhe. He claimed that Kolhe was supporting Nupur Sharma in his writings, which incensed the case’s accused party and led to his decision to murder the Hindu man. According to a police officer, Khan encouraged the other accused. The medical professional was presented to a magistrate, who placed him in police custody until July 4.

According to VikramSali, Deputy Commissioner of Police for the city of Amravati, the murder was motivated by retaliation for Kolhe’s support of Nupur Sharma in a Facebook post. Khan had posted about Kolhe in a WhatsApp group, accusing him of disseminating articles in support of Nupur Sharma. This incited Kolhe’s accusers, who then decided to murder him. Khan therefore encouraged the other accuser.

#WATCH Umesh Kolhe murder case | A total of six accused have been arrested so far from Amravati. During the investigation, we found that Umesh Kolhe had posted on social media in support of Nupur Sharma and this incident took place because of that post: Vikram Sali, DCP Amravati pic.twitter.com/0XRnfWjWXS

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2022

Why hasn’t the Amravati murder case received more attention yet?
Do the murder cases in Amravati and Udaipur have any connections to one another? Why are Muslims still so agitated that they continue to attack Hindus?