SHIMLA: Politics has intensified on the murder of a 21-year-old youth from Bhandal panchayat under Salooni sub-division of Madhya Pradesh's Chamba district with leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur demanding probe through National Investigation Agency (NIA) while chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has asked the BJP to refrain from giving political or communal touch to the incident.
Jai Ram Thakur said that some influential leaders of the ruling party are trying to give a different angle to the incident.
Former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur while addressing media persons in Shimla on Thursday said that a youth belonging to Hindu dalit family was brutally murdered and his body chopped in eight parts was recovered from a nullah. He said that such an incident is rare in devbhumi and has led to tension. He said this was not an ordinary incident and has shocked the entire state.
He said that after the incident, the matter was not taken seriously. He said after coming to power, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on several occasions said that in a state where 99% people are Hindu he has defeated BJP. "Then we took his statement casually but now the chief minister should clarify what actually he wants to say," he added.
Jai Ram Thakur said that main accused Shareef Mohammad and his accomplice Musafir Mohammad and his wife Fareeda had called deceased Manohar at their residence and after argument they thrashed him with sticks and when he fainted, he was brutally murdered by cutting his body in 8 parts.
He said it is a subject of investigation whether Manohar was cut when he was still alive. He said that a cutter was used to cut the body in 8 parts and the same was buried later.
He said that the bank account of the accused also needs to be checked for transactions and around Rs 2 crore are deposit in the account. He said that the accused has 3 bighas of land registered in his name but he was encroached on 100 bighas of government land.
He said that the accused lives in an area at an altitude of 10,000 feet and during winters when the area is covered under 6-7 feet of snow, he still lives there which also needs to be probed. He said that in 1998 the terrorists had killed 35 people in Satroondi area of Chamba district at that time too the investigation team had called the accused to join the probe.
He said that SIT has been constituted by the government but BJP demands that the incident should be probed through NIA. As many suspicious people are in contact with the accused family.
Strongly condemning the incident of murder of a youth in Salooni region of Chamba district, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called for upholding unity and harmony and further emphasized the need to refrain from giving political or communal colour to the incident. He said that such incidents should not be flared to achieve ulterior motives just for the sake of politics on the cost of communal harmony.
Sukhu while interacting with media persons said that law will follow its due course and assured the victim’s family that the state government stands firmly with them during this hour of grief and will extend all possible assistance to support them till justice is served.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to safeguard the interests of all communities, the Chief Minister affirmed that the culprits behind this heinous crime would not escape punishment. Stringent action will be taken against them as per the law. He concluded by requesting the public to maintain peace and cooperate with the authority’s conducting investigation into the matter. He underlined that the government is living in the situation and is monitoring every aspect of investigation.
