Three more people also threatened for putting up posts in support of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma: NIA

The NIA claims that on June 8, two of the accused, Irfan Khan and Mushifique Ahmad, along with others had approached the Amravati police to file an FIR against Sharma. The police informed them that since multiple FIRs were filed against her in different states for the same alleged offence, an FIR could not be filed in Amravati. The NIA alleges that the two accused were not happy with the police response and ‘decided to act themselves’.

A meeting was called on June 9 by the two through a WhatsApp group, ‘Meeting Only’ to discuss the issue.

In the meeting, they also referred to a lawyer from the Muslim community for legal advice. The lawyer in his statement to the NIA has said that he had explained the stand of the local police is correct as per law since there was a direction by the Supreme Court that multiple FIRs cannot be filed for the same offence in multiple places. The lawyer also said in the meeting that the members should not participate in a call for a bandh as it would affect the life of common people but claimed that the two men were not convinced.

Between June 9 and 12, three persons had put up posts on social media in support of Sharma. On June 9, a doctor based in Amravati, shared a post. Within hours, he received a call from someone claiming to be from NGO Rehebar Helpline. He immediately deleted the post. He was also threatened into making an apology video. On the same day, the local ACP had approached the man and said that there would be police patrolling around his workplace as a preventive measure.

On June 10, a man running a mobile shop had put up a WhatsApp status but deleted it within minutes fearing controversy. Six persons had seen the post before he deleted it, the man’s statement part of the chargesheet states. Then, he received calls from unknown persons who began threatening him. The calls continued for days. He has said in his statement that he approached the police on June 29, after hearing of Kolhe’s death on June 21, following which an FIR was registered.

On June 12, an employee of a telecom service company shared a post on Facebook. Within 20 minutes, his contact details were made public. The employee, also cited as a witness, said that he was shocked and surprised to see his contact details. Later, he began receiving calls from unknown persons. He later deleted his FB account and since his workplace address was made public, avoided going to work.

“I called my authority and informed them about the matter and to avoid risk to me and my family, I requested to allow me 15 days leave from my job. From that day, I stopped going on my routine duty to avoid any untoward incident with me and my family,” the witness has said. He also added that he left the city with his family. When he returned, he learnt of Kolhe’s death. He did not join work and resigned from the job he was at for five years.