BHOPAL: Unimaginable torture and humiliation of a tribal youth in November 2023, allegedly over a cattle smuggling issue, led to a brutal revenge killing a year later in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh.
After months of investigation, the police uncovered the murder plot and arrested seven tribal youths on Sunday.
The accused allegedly kidnapped and killed 22-year-old Rinkesh Chouhan on November 30, 2024. They then burned his body using plastic, tyres, and diesel, leaving only a burnt skull and a few bones in the dense Arjun Gondi forest in Betul district.
The murder was linked to the torture of 20-year-old tribal youth Ashish Parte in November 2023. Chouhan and another man had allegedly stripped and hung Parte upside down before beating him with a stick and belt. The attack was reportedly over "cut money" extorted from cattle smugglers transporting cattle from Betul to Amravati in Maharashtra.
While Chouhan carried out the brutal attack, his friend filmed the entire incident on a mobile phone and later uploaded the video. The video went viral three months later, in February 2024, sparking protests by tribal groups and the opposition Congress in Betul and Bhopal. The protests also led to the transfer of the then Superintendent of Police, Siddharth Chaudhary.
According to police sources, Ashish Parte was deeply traumatized by the incident and nearly took his own life, but his family intervened in time.
Following the viral video, Chouhan was sent to judicial custody, while his friend, who had filmed the attack and had a criminal history, was charged under the National Security Act (NSA).
Parte, however, planned revenge and waited for Chouhan to be released from jail.
“Parte came to know that Chouhan had come to visit a fair in the Multai area on November 30, 2024. Further knowing that Chouhan was staying at the house of a common friend, Parte and six other aides planned to avenge the insult. They abducted Chouhan and beat him badly. They later took him to the Arjun Gondi forests, killed him, and then set the body ablaze, reducing it to skeletal remains, including the skull,” Betul Superintendent of Police Nischal Jharia told TNIE on Monday.
In December 2024, forest department staff discovered the skeletal remains and a human skull in the forest. Police launched an investigation, and on December 21, 2024, Chouhan’s family reported his sudden disappearance. A hand bracelet recovered from the site helped police identify the remains. Later, DNA analysis confirmed that the remains belonged to Chouhan.
“We subsequently grilled Ashish Parte and his friends, who finally admitted having killed Chouhan and having burnt his body to destroy the evidence -- for avenging the November 2023 torture-insult. All seven accused have been arrested,” the SP-Betul said