NIA files charge-sheet in Amaravati pharmacist's murder case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a charge-sheet against 11 persons in the murder case Amravati-based pharmacist Umesh Kolhe who had shared social media posts backing Nupur Sharma. The charge-sheet was filed before the special NIA court here.

The court had in September granted the central agency 90 days' extension to file the charge-sheet. Kolhe was killed in eastern Maharashtra's Amravati city on June 21, 2022 after sharing on social media a post supporting suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks about Prophet Mohammad.

The NIA registered a case on July 2 on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs under Indian Penal Code sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.