BHOPAL: A Dalit member of Morena district panchayat was allegedly kidnapped and his teenage nephew shot dead by a group of men led by a BJP leader-cum-district chairperson's husband in Gopalpura area of Morena district on Saturday night.
Acting in the matter, the Morena district police managed to find the kidnapped zila panchayat member Jagdish Tagore abandoned by captors a few hours later, but none of the accused could be arrested till now.
Six persons, including the Morena district panchayat chairperson Geeta Indar Singh Harsana, husband Indar Singh Harsana (both BJP leaders), besides four relatives and supporters have been booked for abduction, murder and criminal conspiracy, said superintendent of police of Morena district Aditya Pratap Singh on Sunday.
The accused have also been booked under provisions of the SC/ST Act, but none of them have been arrested as yet.
According to Morena police sources, Geeta Indar Singh Harsana had been elected chairperson of Morena district panchayat two and half years ago after defeating another district panchayat member of the ruling BJP Rakesh Uttam Singh by a solitary vote. The district panchayat member from Ward No 13 Jagdish Tagore was among those who voted for Harsana.
“The current district panchayat chief Geeta Indar Singh Harsana was apprehending that district panchayat vice-chairman Rakesh Uttam Singh would move a no confidence motion against her in the coming days and independent member Jagdish Tagore might vote against her,” the SP Morena added.
To ensure that the district panchayat vice-chairperson Rakesh Uttam Singh didn’t have the necessary quorum of seven to eight district panchayat members to move a no confidence motion, the kin of district panchayat chairperson held Jagdish Tagore captive on September 3.
Since then they took him to different cities in captivity, including Delhi, Noida and Rishikesh, but surprisingly Tagore’s family didn’t report the matter as he was habitual of leaving home for long time without informing kin.
“There was a condolence recently in Tagore’s relatives house, owing to which the district panchayat chairperson’s kin accompanied him to his relatives house in Gopalpura area of Morena on Saturday evening. But after attending the condolence function, when Tagore refused to return with the Geeta Harsana’s husband and other relatives, they tried to overpower him. When Tagore resisted their bid to kidnap him, the group led by Indar Singh Harsana fired in the air to scare those present there, but the bullet hit the head of a teenager Vinay standing on the terrace of the house,” said Singh.
The 17-year-old Vinay, a resident of Bhopal, who is a relative of Jagdish Tagore succumbed to the bullet wound, while Indar Singh Harsana and his men succeeded in kidnapping Jagdish Tagore again.