Gujarat: Maulvi arrested for threatening to kill Nupur Sharma, BJP MLA Raja Singh. Surat Police reveals details

Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said Maulvi Sohel Abubakr Timol, who has also worked at a thread factory, also threatened the chief editor of Sudarshan television channel and BJP’s Telangana MLA Raja Singh in connivance with his handlers from Pakistan and Nepal.

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Anupam Singh Gehlot Sohel Abubakr Timol was found to be conspiring with people from Pakistan and Nepal to offer ₹1 crore ‘supari’ (contract for killing) and procure weapons from Pakistan to kill the national president of Hindu Sanatan Sangh Upadesh Rana. PTI reported.

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“After his detention, we found several objectionable contents in his mobile phones, including the one regarding offering ₹1 crore for the murder of Updesh Rana. For this, he was in continuous touch with persons/numbers from Pakistan and Nepal,” PTI quoted Gehlot as saying.

“Timol was also found to be involved in issuing threats to Rana in March this year. The accused used a virtual number from Laos to issue threats to the target by connecting numbers from Pakistan and Nepal in his group call,” the police officer said.

Photos and other details found on Sohel Abubakr Timol’s phone number show the accused and associates were discussing on a secure app about targeting and threatening editor-in-chief of Sudarshan TV Suresh Chavhanke, Nupur Sharma, and Hyderabad MLA Raja Singh, Gehlot said, adding that for this purpose, they were planning to collect funds and procure weapons.

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Maulvi arrested in Surat: Details about planning

1. Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said these persons are “highly radicalised” and talked about murdering Hindutva leaders, and discussed the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari (Uttar Pradesh-based president of Hindu Samaj Party who was killed on October 18, 2019, in Lucknow).
2. Maulvi Sohel Abubakr Timol’s records showed he wanted to kill Rana soon to disturb communal harmony during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the police officer said, adding that the Surat police was taking the help of other agencies to find out if they had more targets in mind.
3. Preliminary interrogation of the accused has revealed he was approached by two persons identified as Dogar and Shehnaz having phone numbers belonging to Pakistan and Nepal, respectively, a crime branch release stated. “Around a year and a half ago, the two persons contacted the accused through social media on phone numbers belonging to Pakistan and Nepal. They instigated the accused by claiming the Nabi had been mocked by Hindu organisations in India and these need to be straightened out,” the release said.
4. The police added that Timol received an international SIM number from Laos to keep his identity a secret, and he got a business number on social media activated, which he used to issue threats to Rana.
5. On the chat app, Timol wrote speeches against Hinduism and threatened Rana that he would be murdered like Kamlesh Tiwari, police said, adding that a member of his chat group had sent Rana’s photo with a ₹1 crore offer to murder him. “The accused used social media to spread communal animosity, to upload photos of the national flag of India and make lewd comments in posts or videos about Hinduism. He created a false electronic record and ordered arms from foreign handlers,” the release said.
6. The arrested accused was in contact with holders of Whatsapp numbers with codes of different countries like Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, the release added.
7. He was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (A) (indulge in wanton vilification or attacks upon the religion, race), 467, 468 and 471 (related to forging of documents or electronic record) and section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy, as well as the Information Technology Act, the official said.
8. Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi said, “This accused was conspiring to assassinate BJP leaders and three Hindu leaders. They were in contact with their bosses in Pakistan via WhatsApp. Weapons were being brought and a contract of ₹1 crore was made… The Congress should stop defending such maulanas for the sake of votes. He was trying to instigate the youth. He was teaching anti-national activities in Madrasa… The Congress can do whatever it wants, we will not leave such maulanas… We will take the strictest action…”

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