BHOPAL: Three Jain monks resting in a Hanuman Temple of a village in Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border in western MP’s Neemuch district were allegedly attacked by anti-social elements on April 13.
The incident triggered protests by residents in Singoli town of Neemuch district, close to the state’s border with Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district.
The police arrested six youngsters, who they claimed were involved in the attack.
The incident happened in Kachchala village in the Singoli area of Neemuch district at around 11 pm on April 13. The three middle-aged Jain monks were resting inside the temple before taking their onward journey to Rajasthan.
A group of men (all youngsters) armed with rods and sticks attacked the three monks and even tore their clothes.
On hearing their cry for help, villagers rushed to the spot, but by then the attackers had left already.
Acting on specific inputs, a police team traced the accused a few hours later.
“All six accused, which include a 16-year-old teenager, have been arrested. All of them hail from the adjoining Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. They have been booked under major sections of the BNS and will be produced before the court. We are also working on to figure out whether they have been involved in criminal incidents in the past or not,” Neemuch district police superintendent Ankit Jaiswal told TNIE on April 14.
While one of the arrested accused is 16 years old, the other five (aged in early 20s) have been identified as Ganpat Naik, Gopal Bhoi, Kanhaiyalal Bhoi, Raju Bhoi and Babu Sharma, all residents of Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan.
The three Shwetambara Jain monks who sustained injuries in the attack have been shifted to a Dharamshala. Importantly, as per informed sources, the residents of the Kachchala village in Neemuch’s Singoli police station area had recently complained to the local police about men from the adjoining Chittorgarh district moving around in the village in a suspicious manner, but no action was initiated by the police.
Angered over the late night incident, local residents had shut down the Singoli town on April 14.
However, following the police action and a meeting with the district collector and SP, the shut down was withdrawn.