Jaipur: Exactly a year after the heinous beheading of Udaipur’s Kanhiyalal, his death has become a political issue in the state which is heading toward polls in December this year.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has demanded the Central government to act fast on the case while the Union Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the state government of not designating a special court for the case.
Gehlot doing vote bank politics over the case, says Shah
Kanhiyalal was beheaded by two Muslim youth on June 28 last year. The incident had shaken the entire country. The culprits of the incident have been arrested but the main trial is yet to begin.
Responding to Gehlot’s demand, Union Home Minister Amit Shah who was in Udaipur on Friday for a public meeting, accused the chief minister of doing vote bank politics on the issue and said that the chargesheet in the case was filed on December 22, 2022 and it was the duty of the state government to designate a special court for the trial of the case.
"If the state government has designated a special court taking the high court in confidence, the culprits would have been punished," Shah said adding that the Rajasthan police had not provided Kanhiyalal with security and overlooked his plea.
Shah should direct NIA to close the case soon, says Gehlot
Two days ago on the death anniversary of Kanhiyalal, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot appealed to the Union Home Minister to punish the culprits at the earliest. "This is an 'open and shut' case, in which there is clear evidence of the sequence of events. It is sad that even in such a case, the culprits are not punished for one year," Gehlot said in the statement.
Praising his police for prompt action, Gehlot said that Rajasthan Police took prompt action and arrested both criminals within 4 hours and maintained a law and order situation in the entire state but the same night the Central Government's National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case. "The state government agencies have extended full cooperation to the NIA - whom the Home Minister Amit Shah should direct to get the culprits punished as soon as possible;" Gehlot said.
2 Pakistani nationals are also involved
The NIA had accused 11 persons in the case including the main culprits Gaus Mohammad and Riyaz and two Pakistani nationals. Nine of the accused are in the Ajmer Jail.
With Shah putting the ball in Gehlot's court, the issue seems to have become hot for the latter, whom the BJP is already targetting for inept investigation and careless attitude in the handling of in Jaipur serial blast case.
