INDORE: What was being passed off as a road accident turned out to be a barbaric murder where a tribal youth was beaten mercilessly, tied to a pick-up van and dragged along the road for several kilometres in Neemuch.
The gory truth was revealed when a video went viral on Saturday. Police have arrested eight suspects for the murder, including the husband of a sarpanch. The accused had called police on Friday, claiming that a robber was hit by their vehicle when he tried to attack them. But soon after this, they circulated a video of the attack among community members to boast how they had taught a ‘robber’ a lesson. The
victim
, Kanha alias Kanhaiyalal Bheel, died in hospital and police had no trouble identifying the suspects, thanks to the video.
Victim was tied to a van and draggedKanha was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The 45-year-old from Banda village was looking for his wife, suspecting she had eloped with a relative. A friend, Govind Nai, said he was peering into passing vehicles on a highway in Singoli area of Neemuch, hoping to spot his wife who was missing with the relative after a family get-together the previous night.
A
milkman
, Chitarmal Gurjar, carrying two canisters on a motorcycle, ran into him. The milk got spilt in the collision and a furious Gurjar began beating him.
Gurjar, the husband of the Patan village sarpanch, called some of his family members, who too fell upon Kanha, said police. “The accused stopped a passing pickup, tied the victim’s legs with a rope to the vehicle, and dragged him on the road to teach him a lesson,” Neemuch SP
Suraj Verma
told reporters. A grisly video of this has gone viral. Kanha didn’t survive the torture. When he fell unconscious, the accused panicked and called police with a cooked-up story.
Kanha was taken to Neemuch hospital, 80km away, where he died without regaining consciousness.
Gurjar was detained for questioning and he admitted that he and some of his relatives committed the crime, said the SP.
The video eventually reached police. “The accused were earlier booked under culpable homicide, based on their statements, which has now been changed to murder. They are also booked under the
SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act
,” said SP Verma.
Of the eight accused, five have been arrested --Chitarmal Gurjar,
Ramchandra Gurjar
, Gopal Gurjar, Lokesh
Balai
and Lakshman Gurjar.
DIG Sushant Saxena
said immediate action was initiated in the case.
The pick-up, a motorcycle and a car were seized from the accused.