Sudhir Suri was shot five times on Friday
The main accused in the Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri murder case was "self-radicalised" and committed a hate crime, police said on Sunday.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to further probe the case, they said.
The SIT will be supervised by Additional Director General of Police (Internal Security) R N Dhoke and led by by Deputy Commissioner of Police (detective) Jagjit Walia.
Additional DCPs of City-2 and City-3, in-charge of Anti-Gangster Task Force and in-charge of Crime Investigation Agency are its members, Police Commissioner Arunpal Singh told the media here.
"According to the investigation conducted so far, Sandeep Sunny got self-radicalised through Facebook and other social media and committed a hate crime," the commissioner said.
He, however, said it was not the conclusion and that an in-depth investigation will be conducted.
Police will probe various angles. Technical and financial investigations will also be conducted, he said.
The commissioner said only one person has been named in the murder case so far.
Suri was shot five times on Friday while he had taken part in a protest against the management of Gopal Mandir on Majitha Road -- one of the busiest places in the city -- after some broken idols of Hindu deities were allegedly found on roadside, which he termed an act of sacrilege.
He was cremated on Sunday, with hundreds attending the last rites at the Durgina Shivpuri cremation ground. The funeral procession passed through different parts of the city before reaching the cremation ground amid heavy police security.
Suri had been raising his voice against Sikh "fundamentalists" and triggered controversies in the past.
More than two years ago, Punjab Police had arrested him from Indore in Madhya Pradesh over an objectionable video clip allegedly denigrating women and inciting enmity between different groups, though he had denied the allegations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)