The Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested four people for allegedly burning a 55-year-old Dalit farmer alive near Bhopal over a land dispute, ANI reported on Friday. Deputy Inspector General of Bhopal Dharmendra Chaudhary told the news agency that a special investigation team had been formed to look into the matter.
Kishorilal Jatav was allotted 3.5 acre of land in Parasia Ghat Khedi village by the government in 2000, Hindustan Times reported. However, over the years, his neighbour Tiran Yadav, who owned the land adjacent to his had started tilling a portion of his field.
On Thursday morning, Jatav found out that Tiran Yadav, his son Prakash and nephews Balbir and Sanju were tilling his land, Dharmendra Choudhary told the newspaper. When the farmer and his wife tried to stop them, the Yadavs allegedly started beating him up.
Tiran Yadav allegedly doused him with petrol and set him on fire. Jatav was taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The accused were arrested on Thursday night. “They have been booked for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and also under the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act,” The New Indian Express quoted Superintendent of Police (Bhopal North) Hemant Chauhan as saying.
Several villagers gathered at the hospital demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. The protestors later relented and took Jatav’s body and cremated it. Choudhary told Hindustan Times that security has been stepped up in the village following the incident.
Congress leader Kamal Nath criticised Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over attacks on Dalits in the state. “When will this government stop the continuous atrocities against Dalits?” he asked on Twitter.
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