Murder accused thrashed by relatives outside court; dies

A former revenue official accused of murder died after allegedly being beaten by two of his women relatives outside the district court premises here.

65-year-old Ramesh Nigam was coming out of the court after appearing in the murder case hearing when he was thrashed by the women last evening.

The women and the victim were relatives, and were involved in a land dispute which led to the incident, police said.

One of the accused women, Shivrani, was arrested along with her sons Deepak and Prashant. The other, Shivrani's daughter-in-law, is absconding, they said, adding all accused have been charged with murder.

Police said Nigam, who retired as Patwari (a land record official) might have suffered a heart attack after the physical assault.

Meanwhile, Shivrani told police that Nigam, the elder brother of her husband, was involved in a land dispute with her family. She alleged that her husband was murdered by Nigam and his two sons over the dispute last year