After a man with disabilities, identified as 65-year-old Bhanwarlal Jain, died due to being allegedly beaten up over suspicion of being a Muslim, in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, Congress leaders claimed that the accused in the case has links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to The Quint, BJP's Neemuch district president Pawan Patidar has confirmed the claims and admitted that the accused Dinesh Kushwah, who has now been arrested, is a BJP worker and that his wife is a local BJP leader.
The incident had come to light after a video surfaced, where a man is seen asking Jain, "Tera naam Mohammed hai?... Aadhaar card dikha" (Is your name Mohammed? Show me your Aadhaar card).
The incident is said to have occurred within limits of the Manasa police station in Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch.
On the morning of Saturday, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh tweeted, "I have found out that a case of IPC Section 302 has been registered against BJP's Dinesh Kushwah in the matter. Let's see whether he is arrested or not."
'Accused Is a BJP Worker,' Admits BJP Neemuch District President
The Congress has claimed that the accused, identified as one Dinesh Kushwah, has links with the ruling BJP in the state.
Speaking to The Quint, BJP's Neemuch district president Pawan Patidar confirmed the claims, "Dinesh Kushwah is a normal party worker. His wife is a local BJP leader. Dinesh was not an office bearer of the party. I do not have much information about the incident as of now. We are trying to gather more details."
Kushwah has now been arrested in the case.
'What Is Even Happening in Madhya Pradesh?' Asks Former CM Kamal Nath
President of the state Congress unit and former CM of MP Kamal Nath wrote, "What is even happening in Madhya Pradesh? Adivasis were lynched in Seoni, there were incidents in Guna, Mhow, Mandla, and now an elderly person whose name is said to be Bhanwarlal Jain in Manasa, Neemuch has been lynched."
Nath continued, "Like Seoni, here too the links of the accused to the BJP are coming to the fore. Where is the law and order of the state, and for how long people will continue to be killed like this? Why are the spirits of criminals so high? The focus of the government is only on events."
‘Victim Was From the Jain Community, and Hadn’t Been Able To Identify Himself Properly’: MP Home Minister
Commenting on the incident, MP's Home Minister Narottam Mishra said, "The person was from the Jain community. He was an elderly person and had lost his way. He couldn't identify himself properly, and wasn't being able to speak properly either. The incident took place. A case has been registered against accused Dinesh Kushwah under Sections 302 (murder) and 304 (causing death by negligence) of the IPC."
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