Afghan Sufi Preacher
Afghan Sufi preacher killed in Maharashtra's Nashik
Pune: An Afghan Sufi preacher was shot dead in Nashik district of Maharashtra Tuesday evening by four unidentified assailants, media reports said.
The deceased has been identified as 28-year-old Ahmed Zarif Chishti popularly known as Zarif Chishti who was living in India as a refugee for the last four years.
The incident took place around 7.30 pm in a Jungle area in Yeola in Nashik, around 200 km from Mumbai.
The motive behind his death appears to be property or money-related issues, according to police.
“We have detained one person and he is being questioned. Prima facie the motive is financial and property issues. But we are probing all angles,” Sachin Patil, Superintendent, Nashik Rural was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
Police said the accused were known to Chishti. They took him to the jungle area on the pretext of performing a 'puja' on a new plot.
“But Chishti did not know that it was just a ploy to murder him. The accused took him to a secluded spot, and as Chishti was getting into the car after performing the puja, one of them shot him with a gun killing him on the spot. The men then fled the spot,” they said, according to Indian Express.
Police said Chishti had escaped from Afghanistan fearing execution by the Taliban.
He had lived in Karnataka and Delhi and was living in Yeola, Maharashtra, for one year.
According to police, most of Chishti's income came from his YouTube channel where he posted his preaching videos.
His channel has 2.27 lakh followers and received over 6 crore views, they said.
Police said Chishti has properties worth Rs 3 crore in India and since he is a refugee from Afghanistan, as per Indian laws he cannot buy properties, so the properties were purchased in the name of Indians known to him.
According to the report, police said he also bought 15 acres of land in Yeola and a car.
It is suspected that he was killed by some people whom Chishti had named as owners of the property.
Police said a woman, also an Afghan national, had been staying with him and claims to be his wife but she could not produce a marriage certificate.
There have been no leads, so far, to establish her involvement in the crime, they said, adding that the victim did not have a criminal background.
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