Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday said there was no need for a big investigation into the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prahlad Bandhwar in Mandsaur the day before as Bandhwar’s son had identified the two gunmen who shot dead his father, The Times of India reported.
“There is no doubt who is the accused and who has committed the crime,” Nath told reporters. “But there should be no politics over this issue. I believe that it is unfair to make a political issue out of a murder of a person, especially when it is an internal matter of a party.”
The chief minister was responding to a letter written by his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who called for an investigation into the deaths of Bandhwar and Indore-based businessman and builder Sandeep Agarwal, NDTV reported.
Nath said there was evidence that Bandhwar was murdered by a man identified as Manish Bairagi, who was involved in a land dispute with the BJP leader. According to News18, Bairagi is a BJP worker.
The saffron party, however, denied that Bairagi was its member. “If anyone drapes party colours around his neck or gets clicked with party leaders, he will not be considered a party worker,” said state BJP General Secretary Banshilal Gurjar. “Manish Bairagi was never associated with the party.”
Mandsaur (City) Superintendent of Police Rakesh Mohan Shukla told News18 that police teams have been dispatched to catch the two accused. A police force has also been deployed in the city to maintain law and order. “Bairagi had approached Bandhwar on Thursday and after an argument, Bairagi fired two shots on the leader,” said Shukla. “It seems Bairagi was upset from the BJP leader as he declined to hand over the government land to his name. The said land houses Bairagi’s office.”
Meanwhile, the murder of Sandeep Agarwal has surprised police officials as it occurred at a busy market, just 50 metres away from the local police station, NDTV reported. Seven teams have been formed to catch the killers. Agarwal was into commodity trading, cable and oil business, according to the news channel. His family alleged that he withdrew his bodyguards a couple of months ago and there were disputes with his partners over payments.
The police have detained 30 suspects. “I spoke to senior police officers in Indore,” said state Home Minister Bala Bachhan. “The deputy inspector general assured me that the police will catch the accused in two days. We have also directed them to ensure such cases are not repeated in future.”
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