The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said that it had not asked the public to inform it about calls for beheading people in connection with remarks against the Prophet made by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
The statement came in reaction to social media posts that claimed that the NIA had provided a helpline number to report any Muslim or Muslim organisation making such calls on social media.
The NIA said the phone numbers that it had issued in the public domain were meant for reporting on Islamic State activities, and not in relation to the Nupur Sharma controversy.
“It has come to notice that certain misleading messages purportedly issued by NIA are being circulated on various social media platforms. Everyone is hereby informed that NIA has not issued any such message. Such messages are totally fake and malicious and are part of a mischievous design to mislead the public,” the NIA said in a statement.
The NIA is investigating at least two cases of killings — in Rajasthan’s Udaipur and Maharashtra’s Amaravati — that appeared to be linked to the Nupur Sharma controversy.
Both the cases are being investigated under charges of terrorism. Moreover, according to the agency, the Udaipur killers were associated with a proselytising group in Pakistan.