Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh ended his sit-in protest which continued for two days outside the Khajuraho police station in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, demanding the arrest of a BJP candidate linked to the alleged murder of a Congress worker.
This move by the senior Congress leader came in response to the incident which happened on election day, i.e. November 17, when a Congress worker identified as Salman Khan was run over by a car, leaving him dead. The incident occurred during a conflict with Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries in the Rajnagar Assembly seat.
After the incident took place, Singh, along with party MLAs Alok Chaturvedi and Vikram Singh, began the protest on Saturday and spent the night in a tent outside the police station.
Late Friday, a murder case was registered against Arvind Pateria, the BJP candidate for the Rajnagar constituency, and several others.
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Addressing media on Sunday morning, Digvijaya Singh expressed dissatisfaction with the FIR, claiming despite FIR being registered against 20 people in the murder case, no arrests had been made and the vehicle involved in Khan’s death had not been confiscated either.
Singh also expressed how he and Khan’s family firmly believed that justice would not be served under the state’s BJP government.
“By now, at least one person should have been arrested or a vehicle or two seized. Had it been anyone else, bulldozers would have been used by now (to demolish the accused’s property as has been done in a few cases by the MP government in the recent past),” Singh said, according to PTI.
Notably, Singh warned of extending the agitation statewide if stringent action wasn’t taken, especially noting Pateria’s changing statements about the case.
However, state BJP president VD Sharma, in a complaint to the Election Commission of India (ECI), accused the police of bias. Sharma alleged that the police showed favouritism towards Congress, indicating that Khan was killed by Congress candidate Vikram Singh Nati Raja to influence the polls.
In the memorandum submitted to the ECI, BJP has accused Sandeep Khare in-charge of Khajuraho police station and Chhatarpur Superintendent Amit Sangh of being in favour of Congress and accused them of helping Congress candidate Vikram Singh Nati Raja in the case.
Sharma asserted that Pateria was attacked by Vikram Singh and his supporters, and despite filing a complaint, no police action was taken. He alleged that under Congress’s pressure, police unjustly booked 35 individuals, including 20 BJP workers, for murder without conducting a proper investigation.
Sharma also questioned the administration for allowing the Congress agitation outside the police station while the model code of conduct for the Assembly polls was still in force.
Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh clarified that if no action was taken, the agitation would resume as needed.