The body of a 65-year-old man who had been missing for five days was found in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district on Friday, PTI reported. He was identified as Bhawarlal Jain, who had a mental illness.
A video being shared on social media showed a man repeatedly slapping Jain and asking him about his identity. The man who was slapping him was seen asking him if his name was Mohammed and demanding his Aadhaar card.
KL Dangi, who is in charge of the Manasa police station in the district, said that the man who was slapping Jain was identified as Dinesh Kushwaha. Kushwaha is the husband of a former Bharatiya Janata Party corporator, NDTV reported.
The police have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) and Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Jain was a resident of Ratlam district’s Sarsi village, according to Navbharat Times. He had gone missing after he visited a religious event in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district.
The Manasa police station had subsequently released a notice stating that he was missing and urged anyone with information about him to share it with the authorities. His body was found in front of a car showroom on the Rampura road in Neemuch.
After Jain’s body was found, his family members, resident of his village and members of the Jain community held protests at the police station, seeking strict action against the accused persons.
On the incident, Congress leader Kamal Nath questioned why criminals in Madhya Pradesh were “so confident of themselves” and alleged that the state government was only interested in event management.
“Just where is law and order in the state?” he asked. “Till when will people be killed in this manner?”
BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said that the incident was unfortunate, according to PTI.
“An accused is an accused and it has nothing to do with the party politics,” he said. “None of the people involved in such an act will be spared by the state government. Our party believes in the rule of law.”
Agrawal alleged that Congress governments in the past were engaged in protecting criminals.
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