SHIVPURI: A Dalit watchman was Monday allegedly lynched by 13 people over a land dispute in a village in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, police said.
All the accused are absconding, a police official said.
Prima facie, a land dispute between the victim, Ramsewak Parihar, and the accused belonging to the Yadav community was the reason behind the crime, he said.
"A Kotwar (watchman) was beaten to death by 13 people belonging to the Yadav community today when he was going to his home in Khisloni village," said Ramraja Tiwari, the in-charge of the Bamorkala police station, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred.
The Kotwars are watchmen-cum-informers appointed by the state government in villages.
Tiwari said the accused persons allegedly caught hold of Parihar, and attacked him with sticks and sharp-edged weapons.
He said the accused then dumped Parihar near a farm in the village.
"When family members of Parihar came to know about the incident, they rushed to the spot and took him to the district hospital in Shivpuri, where doctors declared him brought dead," the police officer said.
He said Parihar and the accused persons were locked in a dispute over a piece of land and the case was pending before a court.
The deceased watchman's son Satendra Parihar claimed that his father had filed a complaint with police and the district administration fearing threat to his life, but no action was taken.
Police have registered an FIR against the 13 accused under various sections of the IPC and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Tiwari said.