JAIPUR: Investigators probing the murder of an Udaipur tailor are looking into the possible link of the two men involved in the attack with an Islamist outfit in Pakistan.
But to many they seemed like ordinary people.
Riaz Akhtari, seen killing the tailor in a grisly video clip, used to work as a welder, while his accomplice Ghouse Mohammad took up petty jobs for a living, police sources said on Wednesday.
The duo was arrested on Tuesday hours after they allegedly hacked Kanhaiya Lal to death with a cleaver at his shop in Udaipur and posted videos online saying they are avenging an insult to Islam.
According to the sources, Akhtari also worked at a local mosque in Udaipur and was involved in spreading religious propaganda.
A resident of Asind town in Bhilwara, Riaz had migrated 20 years ago and moved to Dubai, one of his relatives said on condition of anonymity.
"Riaz got married in 2001 and left Asind in 2002 .He moved to Dubai thereafter and never returned. Even when his father died last year, he didn't come home," he said.
It was not immediately clear when Akhtari returned to India, the sources said, adding that he shifted to a rented accommodation in Udaipur along with his wife and two children on June 12.
Mohammad Umar, his landlord, said the family vacated the house on June 28 just before the incident.
"I had never met him personally. It was his wife who approached mine for the accommodation. We asked for their ID proofs but they never gave them to us. The family left the house on June 28," said the landlord.
Rajasthan Director General of Police (DGP) M L Lather had said that Ghouse Mohammad has links with the Pakistan-based organisation Dawat-e-Islami and had visited Karachi in 2014.
When asked whether both the accused had links with Dawat-e-Islami, Lather said that it cannot be ruled out as both of them were equally involved.