India News | BJP Demands CBI Probe into Stoning, Burning of Man in Jharkhand's Simdega

Ranchi, Jan 10 (PTI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the stoning and burning of a 32-year-old man in Jharkhand's Simdega district.

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A delegation of the saffron party, led by former chief ministers Babulal Marandi and Raghubar Das called upon Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais and demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident, punishment for the culprits, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim's family besides a government job for the next of kin.

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A BJP worker, Sanju Pradhan, was stoned to death and his body set on fire by a mob barely 100 metre from his home near Besrajara Bazar on January 4 on the charges of illegally felling trees, which is against local tribal traditions.

Expressing concern over the incident, the BJP delegation said that it had visited the spot and found that the incident happened after local Kolebira MLA had instigated people at a meeting on December 28 last.

Members of the delegation claimed that Pradhan used to oppose the open sale of beef and meat which culminated in the incident on January 4.

A case has been registered against 13 identified and 25 unknown people for murder, rioting with deadly weapons, and unlawful assembly.

Village headman Subun Bud, the prime accused in the case, was nabbed on Sunday following a massive manhunt, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eight. The search for five other accused named in the FIR is underway.

As per the deceased's family, the village headman had convened a meeting prior to Pradhan's killing and called him out of his house, and started beating him, which sparked the mob fury.

The BJP had staged demonstrations across the district, and members of the Bhokta community had blocked roads in Kolebira against the incident.

The deceased's wife alleged that police officers present on the spot did nothing to save Pradhan, while the law enforcers claimed that a 1,000-strong mob involved in the incident stopped them from reaching the spot and they managed to retrieve the burnt body after facing stiff resistance from locals.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren had asked Simdega officials to investigate the matter and inform him, while BJP leaders including party's state chief Deepak Prakash, Union minister Arjun Munda and former chief minister Raghubar Das had condemned the incident and alleged that lawlessness prevails in the state.

The incident took place barely a fortnight after the Jharkhand Assembly passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, which aims at providing "effective protection" of constitutional rights of people and the prevention of mob violence in the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)