Banesingh Bapu (84), a former sarpanch and seasoned Congress leader, was assassinated by dacoits in Kacharia Purohit hamlet, Madhya Pradesh, which is at a distance of 6 kilometres from Sarangpur police station. The incident took place late on the night of 13 July.
The dacoits entered the house after midnight and brutally assaulted Banesingh Bapu and his wife with sticks. The Congress leader died in the attack on the spot, as he was hit on his head multiple times. Ladkunwar Bai (82), his wife, also suffered critical injuries in the attack. The attackers then looted jewellery, cash and firearms kept in the house and fled from the spot.
The pair’s son Rajendra Singh said that the accused robbed their residence of roughly 234 grams of gold, 5 kg of silver, two 12-bore guns and around Rs 10 lakh in cash.
Banesingh Bapu, his wife Ladkunwar Bai, their son Rajendra Singh and their daughter-in-law live in a house built on the farm, while their other family members live in a nearby village. On Wednesday night, the son and daughter-in-law were sleeping on the first floor, while the elderly couple were on the ground floor. When in the morning next day the daughter-in-law went to their room with tea at around 6 am, she discovered both her father-in-law and mother-in-law were lying unconscious on the floor.
Seeing this, she started to scream, and Rajendra Singh rushed to the room. He informed the police, who sent the couple to the hospital. However, the doctors declared that Banesingh Bapu was brought dead, and referred Ladkunwar Bai to Bombay Hospital, Indore after initial treatment.
Ashutosh Upadhyay, the police station in charge, Rajgarh District Superintendent of Police Virendra Kumar Singh and several other senior officers arrived at the scene and an investigation is presently underway. In addition to the police team, the crime branch’s special task force, dog squad and forensic team also probed the area’s access points.
SP Virendra Kumar Singh revealed that the perpetrators accessed the house from the back side between 2 am to 3 am and attacked the elderly couple with heavy sticks. It is believed that the gate of the house was open when the latter entered as no evidence of forced entry has been discovered. After hitting the couple with sticks, the dacoits looted gold, cash and guns kept in the room.
The police have now organised various teams to apprehend the thieves. They first thought it to be the work of an outside gang. However, they are confident of arresting them soon.
