Madhya Pradesh: ASI, kidnapped man killed by angry mob

Two men including an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) were killed by an angry mob in Gadra village in Mauganj, Madhya Pradesh on Saturday (March 15).

According to the Rewa Range Deputy Inspector General of Police, Saket Pandey, two people including ASI Ram Charam Gautam (54) lost their lives while other policemen sustained minor injuries from the enraged mob.

Kidnapping case

Two months ago, a tribal man named Ashok Kumar met with a road accident, but members of his tribe suspected that Sunny Dwivedi, hailing from the same Gadra village, was behind the crime.

According to media reports, a group of Kol tribe members then kidnapped Dwivedi, suspecting his involvement in the death of Kumar. However, according to police records, it was confirmed that Kumar died in a road accident.

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The incident

Dwivedi (25) had been in the Kol tribe’s custody earlier that day on Saturday. According to police reports, some men took advantage of the Holi festivities and forcibly took Dwivedi to their house and held him captive. While there, he was beaten brutally with rods and sticks.

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ASI killed

A team led by Shahpur police station house officer, Sandeep Bhartiya, promptly rushed to Gadra village to rescue Dwivedi, after receiving information of his kidnapping around 3 pm. The mob stopped the police from moving further, and then SDPO Ankita Sulya arrived at 5 pm with reinforcements.

They negotiated with the tribals to let them inside the room for two hours. However, once they entered they realised they were too late as Dwivedi had already been beaten to death in the room.

Sulya told The Times of India, “The villagers thought that Sunny Dwivedi was unconscious, but we found that he was dead. Hearing this, the locals turned hostile. There were around two dozen police personnel, but locals started pelting stones at them.”

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She also recalled how she and other officers were stuck in the room with the dead body for 40 to 45 minutes before they could safely take the body out of the room.

Police were then met with bricks, rods, sticks, and stones, and attacked by the tribals, including both men and women, who injured several people including administrative staff and a tehsildar, who were critically injured.

A driver, Dinesh Goswami, of the injured Tehsildar, Kunware Lal Panika from Hanumana tehsil told reporters, “Many cops, including tehsildar, suffered serious injuries in the attack. Only we know how we managed to escape from the village, where a large mob, taking advantage of the night, attacked us with stones, rods, and sticks.”

Police had to fire in the air to disperse the mob before they could retreat safely.

The injured officers were rushed to hospitals in Rewa, but ASI Gautam of the Special Armed Force suffered severe head injuries and died during treatment.

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Authorities react

Several villagers involved in the killing of Dwivedi and ASI Gautam were detained for questioning, according to police.

“Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Gadra village under Section 163 of the BNSS, and the situation is now under control,” said Mauganj District Collector, Ajay Srivastava and Superintendent of Police, Rachna Thakur.

Police teams from Rewa and Sidhi districts were mobilised to prevent further escalation of tensions.

Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said, “The Mauganj incident is unfortunate. The perpetrators will not be spared... My condolences to the bereaved family. Senior police officials are at the spot and the situation is under control…”

"The ADG Rewa Zone is reaching the spot, I have also directed [the] DG Police to reach the spot and supervise (the situation)," he added.

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Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari claimed that law and order had collapsed in the state. "Law and order has completely collapsed in Madhya Pradesh. The Home Minister has failed completely. The prime minister should see...if police are attacked at five places in (the last) one or two days, then where is the law and order?" he said.

He also alleged that the police committed atrocities on tribals in Mauganj who then retaliated and attacked the police.