Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 7: Irfan Khan, the alleged “mastermind” of veterinary chemist Umesh Kolhe’s murder in Maharashtra’s Amravati, believed to be for supporting Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Mohammad, was learnt to had been one of the main campaigners for votes for the local Independent MLA-MP couple Ravi Rana and Navneet Kaur Rana.
The Ranas had recently caught the headlines over their row against the now-ousted Uddhav Thackeray government threatening to chant “Hanuman Chalisa” outside his ancestral residence “Matoshree” in Mumbai. Notably, both Navneet and Ravi Rana were arrested last month after they announced their plans to recite Hanuman Chalisa to demand ban on use of loudspeakers for “aazan” in the mosques. Their announcement triggered a political stir in the state after Shiv Sena vehemently opposed the couple. Navneet Rana, who was later charged with a Sedition case by Mumbai police, was released on bail. She was then admitted to Lilavati hospital post a medical checkup and alleged ill-treatment in police custody.
The Ranas who have lately positioned themselves close to the BJP agenda, assumed the role of justice-seekers in the Kolhe murder case and denied they had any link with any accused in the case. But Irfan Khan’s Facebook feed shows several posts canvassing for them in the past. Ravi Rana said, “We do not have anything to do with him. No matter which party he may have been with, he should get the strictest punishment.”
Umesh Kolhe was murdered on June 21 allegedly over social media posts supporting Nupur Sharma, the since-suspended BJP spokesperson who’d made remarks on Prophet Mohammed and Islam. The Ranas called the murder “an attack on Hindutva.” Investigators say Irfan Khan, one of seven men arrested so far, had planned the murder – organised funds, weapons, and motorbikes for the killers.
His Facebook posts from 2019 in particular, when Navneet Rana was contesting the Lok Sabha polls, seek support for her. He also posted a photo with Ravi Rana, a three-time MLA from the area.
Local residents said he had sought votes for them, though some of did not want to be named. Irfan Khan’s friend Ismail Khan said “In the 2019 election that bhabhi (Navneet Rana) won, Irfan did a lot of work for her. He convinced so many people to vote for her.”
Though now moving close to the “Hindutva” agenda of the BJP – Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), the Ranas have had support from other parties in the past. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Navneet Rana got a ticket from the NCP, but lost to Shiv Sena’s Anandrao Adsul. In 2019 she avenged that defeat as an Independent with the NCP’s support. But in the assembly polls that year when Ravi Rana was in the contest, they flipped again and started supporting the BJP.
After Umesh Kolhe’s murder last month, the local BJP unit and the Ranas accused the police and the then Uddhav Thackeray government of hiding reality. The BJP-led central government stepped in and ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency. The state government, meanwhile, changed; and now the BJP is part of the ruling coalition.
The Ranas have even alleged that Umesh Kolhe’s killers were “financed by Pakistan.” Irfan Khan is from Amravati’s Zakir colony, a rundown neighbourhood of low-income families. At his home now are his mother, wife and four children. They said they did not know anything about his political links, if any. “We do not go out a lot,” said the mother.
The Amravati Police Commissioner Arti Singh had earlier pointed fingers at Navneet Rana for making false allegations against her ever since an attempt to murder case was registered against Rana’s husband, MLA Ravi Rana and some workers of their party Yuva Swabhiman Party (YSP) by Amravati Police earlier this year.
Singh made the comments while addressing a press conference on the murder of Umesh Kolhe. The case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday. Singh said it took Amravati Police some time to crack the murder case because it was a “blind case,” but on June 27, Navneet Rana had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah against Arti Singh, alleging that cases of murder, riots, illegal activities and robbery were increasing day by day in Amravati city. Rana further alleged that police were trying to pass off the Umesh Kolhe murder case as a case of robbery and murder.
Referring to an incident in February this year, when YSP workers had thrown ink on Amravati Municipal Commissioner Pravin Ashtikar, following which an attempt to murder case was registered against them as well as party leader and MLA Ravi Rana, Singh said Navneet Rana had been targeting her with false allegations since the case was filed against her husband.
Responding to a question on the letter sent by Rana, Singh said, “All these allegations are being made after an FIR was registered on charge of attempt to murder in February. Crimes in Amravati have not increased and robbery sections were never applied in the Kolhe murder case. “If we wanted to cover up the case, we could have arrested two persons and closed it but we wanted to be sure before making any statements to ensure it does not send shock waves throughout the country,” she said.
She maintained that unlike the Udaipur murder of the tailor, in the Kolhe murder case there was no confession by the accused. “Also, we did not get any incriminating evidence from the phones of the first few accused in the case. Further, the victim did not get any threat calls or messages.”
“After arresting the fifth accused, we were sure that this case was connected to a post shared by the victim, supporting Nupur Sharma. We learnt that there is a mastermind (Irfan Khan) who assigned tasks and provided logistics for the murder,” added Singh.
She said Khan, who ran an NGO, had no specific criminal record that would make him a suspect in the case. She said Khan was named in a rape case (in Indore where he had allegedly helped the rapist elope with the victim) and a hospital trespass case where both the victim and accused were Muslims.
When asked about reports that several others had received threats over their social media posts and what action has been taken about it, Singh said, “Till now, we have learnt that three persons have got such calls. One of the three, after a lot of convincing, came to the police station and we registered his complaint. The other two do not want to file a complaint. We can’t take action till they file a complaint but we are conducting our own investigation to find out who are the people who made these (threat) calls and we will find out if they are, in any way, connected to the accused in the murder case.”
When asked if there are any Pakistani ‘handlers’, or any links with Pakistan, as is the case with the Udaipur murder, Singh said, “Till date, we have not found any such links but now the NIA will investigate the matter to find if any such links exist.”
Singh also confirmed that accused Yusuf Khan, 44, a veterinary doctor who had known Kolhe since 2006, owed Rs 1.5 lakh to Kolhe. Khan had bought medicines worth that amount but had not paid back Kolhe, she said. Khan has been arrested for taking Kolhe’s post and circulating it on another WhatsApp group, which had the six other arrested accused as members.
Till now, seven accused have been arrested and one more accused, identified as Shamim, is wanted in the case.