Tailor murder: Curfew continues in some areas of Udaipur
Udaipur(PTI): Curfew remained clamped in seven police station areas of the city on Wednesday and mobile Internet services suspended across all 33 districts of Rajasthan after a tailor was brutally murdered here by two men, triggering stray cases of violence.
Heavy deployment of police has been made in the city, a day after the gruesome murder of Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to Islam
Postmortem of the body is underway at the mortuary of the district government hospital, police said.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who was in Jodhpur, returned to Jaipur and will hold a meeting with officers to review the situation, official sources said.
Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria demanded action against the Superintendent of Police Udaipur.
"Suspension of one ASI is not enough. Action against the SP should be taken. It was his failure that the local police failed to ensure security of Kanhaiya Lal despite threat to his life," Kataria told reporters here.
Prohibitory orders banning people from assembling were clamped across the state for a month and mobile internet services suspended after the incident.
At 8 pm on Tuesday, curfew was declared till further orders in seven police station areas of Udaipur city. The Union Home Ministry dispatched a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to Udaipur.
The Rajasthan Police also announced a special investigation team (SIT) soon after the arrest of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad.
In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had beheaded the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Mohammad.
Lal was recently arrested by the local police over a post on social media. On June 15, while he was on bail, he told police that he was receiving threat calls.
The local SHO summoned both sides to the police station and settled the matter, an official said. After the murder, police suspended an assistant sub inspector for negligence at that time.
The assailants entered Lal's shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took measurements Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone.
The men fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip on social media. In another video, the alleged assailant said they beheaded the tailor and threatened the prime minister for lighting this fire .
Yet another provocative video was recorded on June 17, in which Akhtari said he will post it the day he carries out the murder. He asked other members of the community to continue with similar attacks.
Police sources said Akhtari works at a local mosque and the other assailant runs a grocery shop.
As the videos circulated on social media, tension escalated. Shopkeepers in local markets downed shutters and a mob pelted stones and set two motorcycles on fire.
For several hours, shopkeepers stopped police from taking away the body, saying they will allow the removal of the corpse only after the murderers are arrested and compensation -- Rs 50 lakh and a government job -- given to the victim's family. Later, they agreed to assurances given by the authorities.
On Twitter, Gehlot had appealed for calm and asked people not to share the videos.
"The guilty will not be spared. The entire police team is working on it with full alertness. I can imagine the anger which is there among people due to the murder. We are taking action accordingly," he had told reporters in Jodhpur.
Gehlot said there is communal tension in the country and the prime minister should address the people. He said both Hindus and Muslims are worried.
"It is more impactful if the prime minister speaks. I believe that the prime minister should address the country on this occasion and should make an appeal that we will not tolerate violence at any cost. What is the problem in saying so?" he said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
