Elderly couple lynching: MP cop still at large

GAYA: RPF constable Dharmendra Kumar, who is the main accused in a case pertaining to the lynching of an elderly couple, continues to elude the Gaya police.
The RPF constable deputed in Madhya Pradesh has been absconding since April 8 this year. He is alleged to be the mastermind as well as the main executioner of the incident in which Sukhdeo Ravidas (80) and his wife Sarswati Devi (75) were beaten to death after Ravidas’s grandson Akash allegedly eloped with the RPF constable’s sister.
Police sources said the OBC girl and the Dalit boy were major and students of Jagjivan College-Gaya. They separately left home on February 13 on the pretext of collecting the admit card of +2 exams, but did not come back home.
The girl's family members lodged a kidnapping case against Akash. The Muffassil police later received a copy of the young couple’s marriage certificate through registered post.
On April 8, the girl’s brother along with other members of the extended family raided Ravidas's hamlet and exerted pressure on Sukhdeo and his wife to reveal the hideout of the lovebirds. As the old man and his wife expressed ignorance, the marauders rained lathi blows on them and their son and daughter-in-law.
Sukhdeo and his wife died instantly and his son and daughter-in-law were admitted to the hospital with grievous injuries, said police.
Wazirganj DSP Abhijit Kumar said on Thursday all efforts were being made to arrest the RPF constable and other absconding accused of the case. “Coercive action as per the Criminal Procedure Code will be taken to bring the RPF constable and other case accused to justice,” the DSP said, adding nine people were named in the FIR.
Six FIR accused were arrested on April 9. The remaining three are absconding.