Udaipur tailor cremated, funeral procession amid tight security

Kanhaiya Lal, who was brutally killed by two men here, was cremated on Wednesday in the presence of a large number of people even as curfew remained clamped in parts of the city.

Kanhaiya Lal, who was brutally killed by two men here, was cremated on Wednesday in the presence of a large number of people even as curfew remained clamped in parts of the city. A large number of people gathered at Lal's home in sector 14 here and raised slogans after his body was handed over to family members after postmortem.

Soon after, the funeral procession was taken out and more people on motorcycles and cars joined along the way. People shouted slogans like 'Bharat Mata ki Jay' and 'Kanhaiya Hum Sharminda Hain Tere Katil Jinda Hain' while others carried saffron flags. Lal, a tailor, was on Tuesday killed by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to Islam.

The incident triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city.

Locals also expressed sorrow and anger over the incident and demanded that the accused should be hanged. Some persons also pelted stones and tried to vandalize the gate of a burial ground of the Muslim community near the Ashok Nagar cremation ground. However, the police controlled the situation in time, officials said. Lal's wife Jasoda told reporters that Kanhaiya was scared and did not open his shop for six days due to the threat to his life. He was murdered as soon as he opened the shop, she said.

Officials on Wednesday said Lal had told police in a written complaint that he faced a threat to life by some people who were conducting a ''recce'' of his shop. Lal was cremated at the Ashok Nagar cremation ground amid tight security.

Women relatives cried outside the house and demanded that the accused be hanged. People also shouted 'Modi-Modi' slogans inside the cremation ground. Leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria also attended the funeral. He had also gone to the mortuary in the morning and consoled the family members at his residence.

Markets remained closed in Sirohi's Reodar town and nearby area in Jalore district in protest against the incident.

Mobile internet services also remained suspended, they said.

ADGs in charge of Ranges, Range IGs, SPs and other officers were in the fields in their respective areas on Wednesday to ensure that the situation remains peaceful, police sources said.

Two men, Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, have been arrested by the police in connection with the killing.

In the video clip, Akhtari declared that they had ''beheaded'' the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)