INDORE: An 18-year-old tribal youth on Thursday died as police resorted to aerial firing and tear gas shells to control a crowd of protestors in Dongargaon in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district.
The deceased man has been identified as Bherulal (18). Indore Collector Ilayaraja T on said that a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and that his funeral was performed amidst tight security.
The crowd was protesting the death of a 22-year-old tribal woman who was found dead on Wednesday and allegedly died due to electrocution in Dongargaon village located in the Mhow locality of the district.
In a bid to normalise the situation, the administration on Thursday also imposed Section 144 in the areas falling under as many as five police stations in Indore.
On Wednesday, a 23-year-old tribal woman, who was preparing for competitive exams, was found dead in a rented room. Alleging that the woman was gang-raped and murdered, her family members along with other people of the tribal community on Wednesday staged a protest by placing the body of the victim on the road outside the Dongargaon police outpost demanding that the accused be handed over to them.
Protestors also pelted stones on the outpost with police retaliating with aerial fire and shooting tear gas shells to control the situation.
Earlier, Superintendent of Police (SP, Rural) Bhagwat Singh Virde had said, "The tribal woman used to live with a man from the Patidar community and the man had "claimed" her as his wife. However, Kavita's family members denied it and said that the man had murdered Kavita by electrocution."
A case of murder was registered against the accused and he was arrested, the SP said.
Inspector General of Police Rakesh Gupta said that a crowd had gathered when the accused was being interrogated at the station. He added, "A crowd gathered at the police outpost and raised a demand to register a complaint. When they were told that the complaint was already registered and that the accused was arrested, some miscreants among them started shouting that they would punish the accused."
He said that the protesters then tried to enter the police outpost to bring the accused out. However, they were stopped by the magisterial officer present at the spot.
"The protestors pelted stones on the outpost and the police opened aerial fire in self-defence and in an unfortunate incident, a tribal man died," the official said. He added that a magisterial injury was ordered into the matter.
The stone pelting left around ten policemen including Dongargaon police station in-charge Bharat Singh, injured. Those who pelted stones also got hurt, said SP Virde.
Meanwhile. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter.
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and former chief minister CM Kamal Nath said that a team comprising tribal MLAs of Congress including Kantilal Bhuria, Bala Bachchan, Jhuma Solanki and Pachilal Meda will investigate the incident.
PCC Chief Nath also wrote on Twitter, "Murder of a tribal girl after gang-rape in Mhow area of Indore district and death of a tribal youth in police firing have proved the Jungle Raj is prevalent in Madhya Pradesh. I am distressed by this heartbreaking incident and stand with the aggrieved tribal families in this hour of grief."
"I have also constituted an inquiry team consisting of senior tribal MLAs to investigate the incident which has already left for the spot. This incident of gang rape and police firing in Madhya Pradesh, which is at the top of the country in terms of atrocities on tribals, has horrified the tribals. Now there is no hope left from this BJP government," Nath tweeted.
(With IANS inputs)