Man murdered for atheist post on Facebook, bomb blast convict suspected

Coimbatore: Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) activist and atheist H Farook was murdered in Coimbatore on Thursday night on the orders of a Bengaluru blast convict, said reports.

Farook, who belonged to pro-Periyar rationalist group DVK, was killed because of a Facebook post in which one of his children held a placard saying ‘Kadavul illai, Kadavul illai, Kadavul illai (No God, No God, No God)’.

The suspect, M Asradh (31), has surrended. But police believe the murder was carried out by a gang of four belonging to a banned group.

Asradh surrendered before a district magistrate confessing to the murder, but police are looking for a bomb blast accused’s brother-in-law, Saddam Hussain, himself a murder accused, and relative Shamsuddin, said reports.

The name of the blast accused has not been revealed, but he is suspected to have carried out the plan from inside a jail.

Police claimed that most of the members “were part of some banned radical groups a decade ago”. Police believe the bomb blast accused is the mentor of one such group and controlled it through his followers. They said the group had been issuing threats to Farook for his atheist stand as well as targeting similar Muslim youths “who had deviated from the faith”.

Farook had received warnings from the group earlier asking him to desist from ridiculing God and religion.

Police said Farook was attacked when he stepped out of his house after receiving a call on Thursday night. “A gang of four people chased and hacked him to death. He had deep injuries on his stomach and neck. Although local residents who rushed to the spot tried to catch the assailants, they managed to escape”, the officer was quoted as saying.

In one of his last posts on Facebook on March 13, Farook said his views had made him an enemy of many. He said, “I am an enemy of God, enemy of religion, enemy of caste and enemy of all blind beliefs. But I am not an enemy of humans who believe in humanity.”