MP: State gov constitutes SIT to investigate lynching of Adivasis in Seoni

Madhya Pradesh— The government made a major decision on Saturday regarding the death in the Seoni district of two Adivasi men by mob lynching on the suspicion of beef smuggling. The state government has suspended the entire staff of the police outpost along with the SP [Superindent of Police] of Seoni and issued an order to constitute an SIT [Special Investigation Team] to investigate the case. The SIT team visited Seoni on Sunday to begin their investigation of the matter. The team will submit their report on the case to the state government in 10 days' time.

What was the whole matter about?

Late in the night on May 2, in the village of Simaria, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Seoni Kurai police station, around 15 people surrounded Dhansay and Sampat Vatti. Both were brutally beaten with sticks by the mob on suspicion of smuggling beef. Another person from the same village, Brijesh Batti, was also beaten up after being dragged out of his house in the night. When the police reached the spot, the Bajrang Dal workers handed over the three Adivasi men to them. But Sampat Vatti and Dhansay died in the early hours of the next morning.

The Mooknayak team has already published a ground report on the mob lynching in Simaria. Nine people accused of the lynching have been arrested by the police.  However, this action was only taken by the police after a group of enraged Adivasi villagers blocked the Jabalpur-Nagpur national highway on Tuesday. The enraged villagers raised slogans against the administration, following which the administration then registered a case against the nine people under sections pertaining to murder as well as a case of atrocity.

When The Mooknayak approached the police to ask for their comments on the matter, the official in charge of the Badalpar outpost of Kurai police station, declined to speak to us. He only said that in regard to this matter we should talk to his more senior officials. At the same time, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has constituted an SIT in this matter, which will investigate the incident and report on it in10 days' time. Along with this, the entire staff, including the SP, of Kurai police station and Badalpar outpost have been replaced. We would like to inform you that the SIT set up to investigate the Seoni Adivasimurder case is headed by ACS (Home) [Additional Chief Secretary (home)] Rajesh Rajoura. Other members of the SIT are Akheto Sema, ADG [Additional Director General of Police], State Industrial Security Force, and Shrikant Bhanot, Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education. The Home Department has also issued orders in this regard. The SIT will prepare a report on the causes that led to the incident, action taken by the police and administration, and propose measures to prevent such incidents. This team is required to submit its report to the State Government in 10 days' time.

[Story Translated By Lotika Singha]

यहां हिन्दी में भी पढ़ें: मध्यप्रदेश: सिवनी में आदिवासी लिंचिंग की जांच के लिए राज्य सरकार की ओर से एसआईटी गठित