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A police rescue operation in Madhya Pradesh’s Mauganj district turned tragic on Saturday when a hostage and a State Armed Force (SAF) Assistant Sub-Inspector were lynched by an angry mob. A number of other policemen, including officials, were injured in the violence that took place in Gadra village, which is 600 km from Bhopal.
What Led to the Violence?
The incident was a result of long-standing conflicts in the village. Two months back, a villager named Ashok Kumar had met with a road accident, but some villagers believed that Sunny Dwivedi was behind his death. In a bid to take revenge, a group of individuals kidnapped Sunny, put him in a room, and mercilessly beat him.
When police received word of the kidnapping at 3 PM on Saturday, a police party from Shahpur police station arrived on the spot. But the villagers refused to let out the hostage, preventing the police from going inside. The situation worsened, and SDPO Ankita Sulya and a reinforcement team reached the spot at around 5 PM and engaged in two hours of negotiations with the angry crowd.
After long deliberations, the villagers eventually opened the door—but police discovered that Sunny had already been murdered. The finding infuriated the mob, which turned against the police.
Mob Becomes Violent, Policeman Murdered
The moment the news of Sunny’s murder broke, scores of villagers unleashed a vicious attack on the police contingent. Armed with sticks and stones, the mob attacked the policemen, injuring several of them.
Trapped in the midst of the mayhem, State Armed Force’s ASI Ramcharan Gautam died of head injuries inflicted by the stone-pelting and lost his life on the spot. SDPO Ankita Sulya, her gunman, and another officer were trapped in the room with the dead hostage for almost 45 minutes before extra forces could arrive and evacuate them.
Arrests Made
Following the attack, police units from bordering Rewa and Sidhi districts were deployed to avert further violence. Officials held a flag march in the region and arrested five individuals in connection with the lynching.
Verifying the fatalities, Rewa Range DIG Saket Pandey stated, “Two persons, one of them an ASI, were killed, and some policemen were injured. The situation is now back under control.”
The Mauganj Superintendent of Police (SP) Rasna Thakur told that Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) has been declared in the district to avoid any further unrest.
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