Personal enmity, not moustache, reason for Dalit’s murder: Police

In the FIR, Jitendrapal’s brother Om Prakash, on whose complaint the police have lodged the FIR, quotes Jitendrapal on his deathbed in the hospital as saying that he was with his colleague Harish Kumar that day.

Om Prakash said, “Jitendra said that the two of them were on a motorcycle, while he was riding pillion. He said that Suraj Singh and Ramesh Singh – both Rajpurohit — approached them on a bike. While Ramesh was driving the bike, Suraj had sharp weapons in both his hands. He attacked me, injuring my back, neck and hands. Then both Harish and I fell from the motorcycle after which Ramesh attacked me on my jaw, neck, shoulder, etc. While assaulting me, they used casteist slurs and said that I agree for a raazinama (compromise) else they won’t leave anyone in my family alive. As I yelled for help and people turned up, the accused – assuming that I’m dead – ran away, leaving their weapons behind.”

SHO Devendra Singh said that disagreement over an old case was the main cause for Jitendrapal’s murder. “In 2020, a case was registered against these two by Jitendra under the SC/ST Act and police charge-sheeted three accused in that case, including one Kamlesh. Back then, Jitendra was sitting outside his home when there was ‘hot talk’ between him and the three accused. The main point (of disagreement) was this only. After that, the boys started living in Surat, and tried for compromise. But Jitendra refused. After his refusal, they came from Surat and committed the crime on March 15 and ran away on a motorcycle to Barmer.”

“We got information about their refuge near Barmer and successfully nabbed them on March 17,” the SHO said, adding that the accused are currently in five-day police custody.

The case was lodged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), as well as sections of the SC ST Act and the Arms Act.

In the FIR, Om Prakash has alleged that the accused and their family had often “threatened us and pressured us to reach a compromise. Suraj’s father Babu Singh had even threatened to kill my brother.”

On Saturday, Pali District Collector Namit Mehta and SP Rajan Dushyant met Jitendra’s family members and assured them of impartial investigation in the case.