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Guna, Oct 27 (IANS) In a quick midnight post on Twitter, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav broke his silence on the broad daylight murder of a farmer in Guna, his words carrying the impact of both sorrow and command.
“I express my condolences to the family,” he wrote, before issuing strict instructions: “No culprit will be spared.”
Within hours, a case was registered against 14 accused, one was arrested and the state’s law-enforcement machinery was stepped up.
What started as a land dispute in Ganeshpura village ended in the brutal death of a father – and now, the Chief Minister has made it a test of governance.
Superintendent of Police (Guna) Ankit Soni has said that the police have arrested one accused Hukum Singh and have started searching for Mahendra Nagar, Jitendra Nagar, Kanhaiyalal Nagar and others.
The long-running land dispute in Ganeshpura village of Fatehgarh police station area turned into unimaginable cruelty, in which 40-year-old farmer Ramswaroop Dhakad lost his life and his family was disintegrated.
According to the police, on Sunday afternoon, when Dhakad was going towards his fields with his wife Vindo Bai, they were ambushed by a mob led by local BJP booth committee president Mahendra Nagar and his relatives, including his sons Nitish and Devendra, wife Kamlesh Bai, nephew Jitendra and about a dozen others, including women.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of extreme barbarity. The attackers, armed with sticks, rods and guns, surrounded Dhakad and attacked him until he collapsed and sustained multiple fractures on his body.
In a final act of cruelty, Nagar allegedly ran a Thar jeep over Dhakad’s limp form, fatally crushing him. When Vindo Bai and her two 17-year-old daughters, Tanisha and Krishna, ran to intervene, the mob attacked them, brutally slapping the women, tearing the girls’ clothes and firing shots in the air to scare away the villagers.
Police accounts also reveal that Dhakad’s maternal uncle, Rajendra Nagar, who joined the fray to help, was also beaten. For nearly an hour, the attackers held the village hostage at gunpoint, preventing locals from taking Dhakad to the nearest health centre.
Only after repeated requests did they agree, and allowed the seriously injured family to be taken to Guna District Hospital. Dhaakad died en route or on arrival, his body riddled with trauma. However, SP Ankit Soni said, “The victim died during treatment.”
The survivors – Vindo Bai, Tanisha, Krishna and Rajendra – are undergoing treatment for fractures, wounds and emotional wounds, with the daughters particularly traumatized by the molestation.
The reason for this was the ongoing dispute over six bighas of land in the neighboring village of Pachalavara in Baran district of Rajasthan, owned by Dhakad’s maternal uncle Pappu Nagar.
Nagar’s relatives had been pressuring the Kanhaiya family to give it up, but Dhakad’s persistent refusal – amid allegations of Nagar’s years of intimidation – forced at least 25 small farmers to sell their land at throwaway prices and flee Ganeshpura.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who also holds the Home portfolio, condemned the “unfortunate” murder, calling it a stain on the state’s law and order.
He said, “Nobody involved in criminal activities will be spared.” He directed the police and district officials to expedite the investigation with utmost seriousness.
An FIR has been registered against 14 named accused, including Nagar, and four unidentified persons under various sections of the Indian Justice Code for murder, conspiracy, assault and outraging the dignity of women.
Mahendra’s elder brother Hukum Singh was arrested late on Sunday night, while blood stains linked to the crime were found on the seized Thar jeep. Sub-divisional police officer Vivek Asthana has continued the raids in search of the absconding people, promising forensic investigation and protection of witnesses.
The BJP district unit has acknowledged the role of Mahendra Nagar as a former office-bearer of Kisan Morcha, which broke away from the Congress in 2020, and urged his immediate expulsion.
State BJP chief Hemant Khandelwal echoed the CM’s point, saying, “Our government will punish every criminal, irrespective of his affiliation.” Nevertheless, the opposition Congress, led by Bamori MLA Rishi Agarwal, condemned the incident, calling it the “Lakhimpur Kheri incident”, and accused the ruling party of protecting the land mafia and promoting impunity.
“Violence, looting and attacks are rampant under this regime,” Agarwal alleged, demanding a high-level judicial inquiry and Scindia’s intervention given the situation in Guna in his Lok Sabha constituency.
Villagers, living in fear of reprisals, whispered about the city’s unchecked dominance, where disobedience meant ruin.
As Dhakad’s body was cremated amid lamentations, the tearful words of his daughters – “They sat on me, tore my clothes and opened fire on us” – heightened the demand for justice.
–IANS
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