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Riyas Moulavi murder case: Communal link in murder suspected

Unconfirmed reports cite three in custody.

KASARGOD: Even as the special investigation team probing the murder of Madrasa teacher Riyas Moulavi in Kasaragod remains tight-lipped on the motive of the crime, unconfirmed reports on Thursday pointed to the team hitting upon a communal angle to the gory episode after taking three people into custody. One of them was an accused in the murder of a DYFI leader in 2008, it is learnt. The team is also probing whether the murder was in retaliation for an immediate provocation, a theory, however, local residents dismiss.

The police is also probing the chances of the plotters hiring known criminals for the murder. Sources said the accused had no known rivalry with the Moulavi, and hence the job could have been commissioned to the hirelings to instigate violence. The police had taken 23 men belonging to Indian Union Muslim League and the Bharatiya Janata Party into custody soon after the murder on Monday. Police sources said the SIT has been treading its course extremely carefully to ensure that nothing impacted the tenuous law and order situation in the district.

Several houses were attacked during a hartal called by the IUML in Kasargod constituency on Tuesday, the day after the murder. The police had to deploy a large number of personnel after the violence spread to other parts of the district. SDPI state president P. Abdul Majeed Faizy said any move by the RSS to disrupt peace in the area would be resisted as the whole blame would fall on the Muslim community. “We expect the issue not to go communal. We have asked party men to show restraint even in the unfortunate event of a flare-up as it would otherwise affect us, which would be the motive of the perpetrators.”

Riyas Moulavi, 34, a native of Madikkeri in Coorg, was found hacked at a room near the Muhayuddin Juma Masjid in Choori by his colleague. He was declared brought dead at the general hospital. Riyas was a teacher at Islathul Islam madrassa, Old Choori, for nine years. Hate campaigns were abuzz on the social media threatening retaliation and many houses were attacked during a hartal called by the IUML in the assembly constituency.

The police warned against those who are spreading hatred messages through WhatsApp and Facebook. Though the IUML had called the hartal, the BJP alleged that destruction was majorly carried out by the SDPI workers. BJP leaders had demanded that the government sanction Rs 10 lakh relief for the teacher’s family. On Wednesday, the family members of the teacher visited the chief minister and requested speedy investigation.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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