Minister Rajput meets affected family and announces ex-gratia of Rs 8.25 lakh

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Damoh District Minister Govind Singh Rajput reached Devran village on Wednesday and met family members of a 32-year-old Dalit man and his parents who were shot dead in Devran village on Tuesday. Damoh district after being accused of staring at the wife of one of the attackers.

The minister instructed administrative officials to issue a check for Rs 8.25 lakh to the nearest family member and announced financial aid of Rs 50,000 each to the two injured in the incident.

An amount of Rs 1 lakh was given to two hospitalized injured people.

On Tuesday morning, Jagdish Patel and 6-7 other members of his family reached Ghamandi Ahirwar’s house and opened fire on them. During the incident, Ghamandi Ahirwar (60 years old), his wife Rajpyari (58 years old) and their son Manak Ahirwar died instantly. Two members were admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds.

The Minister of Revenue met with the family members and assured them of government support.

Police Superintendent DR Teniwar said police arrested four defendants in the case while three people were on the run.

Bhim army militants led by Sagar district chairman Dhamendra Ahirwar reached the village and shouted slogans against the district administration for failing to provide safety to the Dalits. They also requested government employment for family members and relief money.

Victim’s family had no money for last rites: police

The family of the victim, who lost three of their members, had no money to perform the last rites, police said Wednesday. Even the family who allegedly killed the three don’t have much money, police said.

“The late Manak and Seeta Bai had four children, the eldest is six years old and the youngest is only nine months old. If they went to work they got food and if not, no food,” Police Superintendent DR Teniwar said.

“The police arranged money to perform the last rites of the three on Tuesday. In the normal case, if the eclipse is in progress, the last rites are not performed. But these people just wanted to go for the last rites as they had no arrangement for the future,” Teniwar added.

The accused family head, Jagdish Patel, is a security guard, he earns around Rs 8,000 and his son Saurabh works in a private company and earns Rs 4,500 per month. On the basis of private jobs and a licensed firearm, they posed as men of power.

When police searched them, the accused Saurabh was wearing torn underwear, said a police officer who is part of the investigation.