By Hasan Akram

Kishan Jha, one of the four men arrested over the killing of JDU worker Khalil Alam Rizwi in Bihar’s Samastipur, has said that he and his accomplices shot a video and made it viral to spread awareness about Hindutva.

Rizwi was kidnapped by Hindutva fanatics on 16 February and he was found dead on 18 February. His body was burnt and buried. After recovery of his body, the purported video clip was uploaded on social media, in which the deceased was seen being abused and beaten for eating beef/cow meat.

Kishan Jha, who was interviewed by local journalists after being taken into police custody, confirmed that there was a communal angle in Rizwi’s murder. In his interview, he also raised a slogan, “Gau hatya band ho, Bharat akhand ho” [Stop cow slaughter and reunite India].

JDU नेता खलील रिजवी के हत्यारोपी किशन झा की दलील सुनिए…pic.twitter.com/ENiua4SFok

— Utkarsh Singh (@UtkarshSingh_) February 23, 2022

Jha had also boasted about the video clip in a Facebook post before his arrest. In the post, he says, the video was necessary to open the eyes of youngsters.

However, the local police have denied any communal angle in the murder, claiming that the video was shot to give a “communal colour” to the case in order to divert probe.

According to the police, Rizwi was murdered after feud over job. Samastipur SP Hriday Kant told the media that Rizwi has taken a hefty amount from a student in 2019 to get him a job in the Railways but he could not do so. So, Kishan Jha and his accomplice Vipul had taken upon themselves to recover the money from Rizwi.

Khalil Rizvi, a JDU worker, was beaten and burnt by Hindutva terrorists in Bihar's Samastipur. In this video, the assailants can be heard abusing and attacking him over cow-slaughter.#Lynching, #HindutvaTerrorists, #Muslim pic.twitter.com/ohTa8x0FHT

— MuslimMirror.com (@MuslimMirror) February 23, 2022

The police has also alleged that the kidnappers had called the victim’s wife and asked ransom from her. However, the ransom was not handed over.

The victim’s brother Mohammad Sitare ruled out the police version. “Everything is pretty clear from the video,” he said while speaking to Muslim Mirror.