Gram pradhan kin kills elderly man for blowing whistle on graft; 4 booked, killer at large

Varanasi: A 70-year-old dispensary owner was crushed to death under an SUV by nephew of a gram pradhan for flagging financial irregularities, in Ghaskari village under Bhadohi police station on Wednesday night. According to police, on complaint filed by Kamlakant Dubey, gram pradhan Manish Yadav's financial powers had been seized, while his brother Mehilal Yadav, had been sent to jail on Wednesday morning. Enraged over this development, Mehilal's son Sujit Yadav attacked Dubey when he was closing his shop by knocking him with his SUV against the shutter of the shop.Bhadohi SP Abhimanyu Manglik said on Thursday that village head, Manish Yadav, was arrested in this connection while teams were engaged to arrest Sujit and one more accused at the earliest. A case was registered against four individuals, including Sujit, his father Mehilal Yadav and Manish Yadav, on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. CCTV footage of the incident showed Dubey was crushed by the SUV with the intention to kill, said officials. During police investigation, it came to light that Dubey of Ghaskari village ran a dispensary at the local market and used to make complaints against irregularities in development work and alleged corrupt practices of the village head. Taking note of his recent complaint, Bhadohi district magistrate Shailesh Kumar ordered an investigation and after allegations were found true, the DM seized the village head's financial powers on Wednesday. Also, based on Kamlakant's complaint, police arrested the village head's elder brother, Mehilal, as preventive action.The action against his uncle and father upset Sujit, who raided Dubey's dispensary when he was pulling down its shutter on Wednesday night. As the shutter came down, Sujit crushed Dubey between the shutter and the vehicle with his SUV and fled the scene.Severely injured Dubey was rushed to the hospital by locals, but he died on the way. Tension prevailed in the area following his death. Police took the village head into custody late night.