Kanhaiya Lal murder case: Rajasthan HC grants bail to accused Mohammed Javed

A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday granted bail to Mohammed Javed, one of the accused in the brutal killing of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal in 2022. 

While hearing the bail application, the division bench of Justice Pankaj Bhandari said, "NIA has arrested the accused on the basis of call details. However, NIA has been unable to prove the location of the accused. At the same time, no recovery has been made from the accused. He has been in jail for a long time and the trial will be running long. In such a situation, he is granted bail."

Out of the 11 people arrested in the case, Javed was accused of hatching a plan along with accused Mohammad Riyaz Attari.

The accused had appealed for bail in the High Court after his plea was rejected by the NIA court on August 31, 2023.

Before Mohammed Javed, another accused in this case namely Farhad Mohammad alias Babla, was granted bail by the NIA court on September 1, 2023.

The NIA had registered a case of the Arms Act against Farhad. While granting bail, the court had said that the man was accused of the Arms Act and has been in jail since July 2022. In such a situation, he was given the benefit of bail.

On Thursday, while arguing for bail in the High Court, Javed's lawyer Syed Saadat Ali said, "NIA is saying that Javed had planned to kill Kanhaiya Lal while sitting at Indiana Tea Stall. However, the tea stall owner Dharmendra Sahu did not confirm a visit to the tea stall the same day. NIA also says that Javed had recceed Kanhaiya Lal's shop and had shared information with Riyaz about it. However, the footage of CCTV cameras installed at the shop proves that Javed never went to Kanhaiya Lal's shop."

Ali further said, "According to NIA, Riyaz's (main accused) call came to Javed. However, Javed never called Riyaz. Riyaz's number was not even saved on his mobile. He used to work as a salesman at a bangle shop and used to get calls from customers throughout the day."

While arguing in court on behalf of NIA, lawyer T.P. Sharma said that all the accused involved in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case knew each other and they conspired to murder the tailor.

The call details of the accused prove that all were in contact with each other through phone. Sharma said, "Our witness Zeeshan has also confirmed that Riyaz and Javed met at a tea stall before the incident. Along with this, the accused has also accepted this in his statement."

The court also expressed displeasure over the statement taken by NIA. The court said, "NIA has written all the statements in English. Why was it not written in the language in which the accused gave the statement."

On June 2022, Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered by Mohammad Riyaz Attari and Gaus Mohammad who slit his throat.

The NIA had presented a challan against 11 accused, including Mohsin, Asif, Mohammad Mohsin, Wasim Ali, Farhad Mohammad Sheikh alias Babla, Mohammed Javed, Muslim Mohammad, main accused Gaus Mohammad and Mohammad Riyaz Attari. Accused Salman and Abu Ibrahim, residents of Karachi, Pakistan, have been declared absconding.