Ahmednagar district remained tense on Monday as Dalit organisations blocked roads and staged rallies protesting against the Maharashtra police’s failure to nab the perpetrators of the gruesome triple murder of a Dalit family, even a week after the incident.
Activists of the Republican Party of India (A) blocked State Highway 10, from Pune to Ahmednagar, demanding that the killers be apprehended and justice swiftly meted out.
Pathardi Taluk, where the murders took place, witnessed a complete shutdown in protest against the gory killings.
“We want the killers to be hanged and Rs. 15 lakh given as compensation to the kith and kin of the bereaved. The RPI will also demonstrate in front o the Collector’s office to protest against the tardiness in the investigation,” said RPI (A) leader Sunil Salve, during a rasta roko in Ahmednagar.
“Eight teams under the Inspector-General of Police have been constituted to hunt the murderers. We have questioned several people in connection with the case, but have yet to find anything conclusive,” said Lakhmi Gautam, the Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police, speaking to The Hindu . The district police last week had booked a case against unknown persons under the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act.
Gory murder
Over the course of October 21 and 22 , villagers of Javkhede Khalasa in the district’s Pathardi Taluk retrieved dismembered body parts of a mason, Sanjay Jadhav (42), his wife Jayashree (38) and their teenage son Sunil (19), floating in the well and strewn around the land owned by Mr. Jadhav.
Relatives of the victims have alleged that district authorities were dragging their feet over the case due to political pressure.
“Despite having submitted all evidence and informing the police of our suspicions, they have not made a single arrest even a week after the murders. There is an insidious political element at play here,” Dilip Jadhav, Sanjay’s elder brother, told The Hindu .
'No faith in CID probe'
Remarking that this was the third instance of Dalit murders in the district in recent times, Mr. Jadhav said his family had lost faith in the CID investigation being conducted to apprehend the killers of his brother’s family.
Strongly condemning the murders, Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who visited Javkhede Khalasa on Friday urged political parties to come together and help relatives of the victims.
On Saturday, Governor, C. Vidyasagar Rao directed the State Director General of Police, Sanjeev Dayal, to appoint a Special Task Force (STF) to probe the murders after meeting a delegation led by RPI President Ramdas Athawale at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.
