A woman was killed when she tried to rescue her father-in-law, who tried unearth a pension scam with the help of RTI Act, after a village head allegedly made an attempt to crush him under the wheels over at village Chandrawal near Bhuna in this district, the police said on Saturday.
A local court had ordered registration of a case against the village sarpanch and 13 others following efforts made by two RTI applicants in unearthing the scam.
Phool Singh and Jagdish, residents of village Chandrawal, had unearthed bungling in disbursement of pension by using RTI applications and subsequently filed a case of alleged fraud against the accused in the court. A court had ordered registration of a case against the 14 accused.
Sarpanch Dharambir Malik, District Social Welfare Officer and Naib Tehsildar (revenue official) of Bhuna were allegedly found to be the main culprits behind the fraud, police sources said.
The sources claimed the pension money was drawn from the government treasury but not delivered to the pensioners.
The village pensioners got information from the social welfare department that pension was being released as usual.
On Thursday, the sarpanch allegedly used a multi-utility vehicle (MUV) in an attempt to crush Jagdish under the wheels when the latter was sitting outside his house.
Jagdish’s legs were crushed and when his daughter-in-law Sonu tried to come to his rescue, the attackers did not spare her and crushed her too. She succumbed to her injuries at a hospital later.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Shamsher Singh Dahiya, a murder case has been registered against Dharmbir Malik, his driver Satbir Singh and three others.
The police produced Malik and Satbir in the court where they were sent to police remand for one day. The police are yet to recover the vehicle used in the crime.
