Maharashtra orders probe into Dalit death

The victim, 42-year-old Sahebrao Jondhale, was returning home in his Tata Sumo on the night of June 16 when a group of men allegedly stopped the vehicle and killed him near Karanjala village in Hingoli district of Maharashtra, about 500 km from Mumbai. The charred vehicle was left at the crime scene on the small dirt road near the village. Until Monday, it even had the remains of Jondhale8217;s bones scattered amid the ash before they were washed away by rain.

While his relatives said they suspected upper caste residents of Karanjala to be behind the crime, police have been struggling to get leads. 8220;Both Prahlad Thorat and Ram Dandwat have been remanded in police custody until June 27,8221; Hingoli ASP Kishan Pawar told The Indian Express, adding Jondhale8217;s bones and skin samples found in the vehicle had been sent to the forensic lab in Mumbai.

8220;We have sent the samples to find out how Jondhale was killed. It is yet to be established if he was killed and then burnt, or was burnt alive. Going by the primary information, he was set ablaze, but forensic tests will help us build our case before the court,8221; said Pawar.

Jondhale8217;s relatives had said that his new-found prosperity had not gone down well with some of his neighbours and there had been tension and fights in the past. Pro-Dalit activists said there had been an increase in atrocities against Dalits in the region and urged the police to probe this angle strongly.

Police said they were planning to seek permission to conduct narco-analysis tests of the two suspects as they were yet to get any clues to the motive. 8220;Though we have succeeded in arresting two people so far, there is no reason made out as to what led to Jondhale8217;s murder. Bundling the victim up and setting him ablaze has to be a team work of more than two people, and hence narco test seems essential,8221; said Deputy SP Rahul Rane.

In Mumbai, Additional Chief Secretary Home Chitkala Zhutshi termed the incident a 8220;heinous crime8221; and promised action. 8220;An inquiry will be conducted. This is a heinous offence, and we will take action against the perpetrators,8221; she said.

Dalit groups stepped up pressure and said the incident showed the failure of the Democratic Front Government to protect Dalits. 8220;Such incidents are increasing and the Democratic Front Government has no right to stay in power,8221; said MLC T M Kamble, who heads the Republican Party of India Democratic.

Baburao Potbhare, spokesperson of the Prakash Ambedkar-led Bharatiya Republican Paksha-Bahujan Mahasangh, met Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Tuesday and handed over photographs and CDs of the site of the incident. 8220;This was not an accident, but a pre-planned murder,8221; said Potbhare, who had visited the area earlier.

With inputs from Dhaval Kulkarni