In yet another evidence that the Udaipur butchers are long-term extremists, voice notes of one of them accessed by India Today suggest the killers were already weaponized by radical ideology before they slaughtered Kanhaiyalal Teli over the alleged disrespect to the Prophet.
In an audio message to his former employer in February, assailant Riyaz Attari could be heard expressing his contempt for singing and music in accordance with some interpretations of Islamic law.
“MUSIC IS SINFUL”
Attari taunted Shoyab Pathan, a factory owner, about committing religious wrongdoing for posting a song and happy family moments in a WhatsApp status after recovering from an accident.
“As-salamu alaykum, Shoyab Bhai. You should rather be grateful to Allah who gave you a new lease of life. Don’t waste this life singing songs. Say grace and be grateful to Allah for saving your life. Don’t commit this sin of singing,” Attari told his ex-boss in a February 25 message.
In another audio note on June 11, he mocked Pathan for leaving his online group which the factory owner insisted promoted radical ideology.
“Shoyab Bhai, why did you leave the group? What are you scared of? Just be fearful of the Almighty and nobody else,” Attari told his former employer in the June voice note.
According to the factory owner, Attari was an online rogue.
“I’d exit his group but he would add me back to it again. I didn’t find it appropriate, so would leave it,” Pathan told India Today.
“What would he say in that group?” the reporter asked.
“They would post messages (in their WhatsApp group) as if a communal riot has taken place. Their posts were wrong. I didn’t like them,” the factory owner replied.
“Provocative, you mean?” probed the reporter.
“Yes. That’s why I would leave that group,” Pathan, who employed Attari some years ago in his Udaipur factory, said.
After committing the slaughter on June 28, the two assailants in fact sneaked into the office of the same unit to film themselves gloating about the killing.
TREASURING TERROR NUMBER
Also, the motor-bike the two killers used on the day of the fatal attack on the Udaipur tailor held alarming clues about their radical impulse.
Its number plate, RJ 27 AS 2611, has been found to have been customised to the biggest terror attack on Mumbai.
The siege of India’s financial capital on November 26, 2008 came to be known as 26/11.
The bike bearing the sinister 2611 license plate was registered in Riyaz’s name and bought nine years ago — in 2013.