Gujarat: ATS lodges first case under UAPA after murder of youth from shepherd community

The Gujarat Police have invoked the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as the controversial Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act (GujCTOC) in the Republic Eve murder of a shepherd community youth in Ahmedabad district’s Dhandhuka town.

This is the first case in Gujarat where the controversial UAPA has been invoked. The State’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, which has been entrusted the investigation in the case, indicated that it was not just one murder but a conspiracy at work.

The Ahmedabad rural police had arrested two youngsters, Shabbir Chopda, 25, who fired at 27-year-old Kishan Bharwad (Boliya), Imtiyaz Pathan who drove the motorcycle they rode and an Ahmedabad cleric Mohammad Ayyub Javrawala for allegedly providing a revolver and five live cartridges to bump off Kishan.

Within 24 hours of the ATS taking over investigations in the murder, a cleric from old Delhi’s Dariyaganj locality Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani was arrested. Subsequently, two others, Wasim Sama and Azim Sama, were picked up from Rajkot.

ATS officials claimed that the two clerics had reportedly tutored the assailants to avenge any activity, including social media posts, that was found to be anti-Islam and Prophet Mohammad.

According to an official ATS press release, “Our investigations in the Kishan Bharwad murder revealed that the killers and the perpetrators were indulging in terrorist activities. It is after these revelations that various provisions of the UAPA and GujCTOC were invoked in the case.”

It might be recalled that Kishan was killed by the two Muslim youngsters allegedly following an objectionable anti-Islam Facebook post on January 6. In fact, a police complaint was lodged against Kishan and he was arrested for this. He was bailed out.

His cousin Bhaumik Boliya, who was with Kishan when they were attacked, told the police that Kishan had also apologised for this and a compromise was struck.