The Gondia Police have arrested the wife of Sanjay Khobragade, a Dalit man who was set ablaze in his home at Kawalewada, for allegedly committing the crime.
Mr. Khobragade and his family had alleged that six people from the village had set him ablaze on Saturday following a dispute over constructing a Buddha Vihara on a plot of land. Collector Amit Saini had said the six were arrested based on the victim’s statement. But at a press conference on Monday evening, Superintendent of Police Dilip Jhalke said Mr. Khobragade wife, Devakabai, and her “paramour” Raju Gadpayale of the same village had committed the crime. Gadpayale has also been arrested.
“It is true that the victim had given a statement to the magistrate and had named six people. But we found that those six people were not there in the village when the incident took place,” Mr. Jhalke told The Hindu .
But the Khobragade family has accused the police of falsely implicating the woman.
“It is rubbish to connect my sister-in-law to the incident. She poured water on my brother when he was in flames,” said Devanand Khobragade, the victim’s brother.
