3 BJP men murdered in four days

The murder of three persons associated with the BJP in the past four days have rocked Madhya Pradesh politics.

While the Congress has dubbed the murders as violent fallout of the BJP’s internal politics, the Opposition party staged state-wide demonstrations to protest what it called deteriorating law and order in the state.

On Monday, Gwalior BJP district secretary Narendra Rawat’s brother was found murdered in a village in the district. His body was found near a bridge on Parwati river. It bore marks of injuries by some sharp-edged weapon.

A day before, a Badwani district BJP office-bearer Manoj Thakare’s crippled body was found with a blood-stained stone by its side in his native village. On Thursday, Mandsaur municipality chairman Prahlad Bandhwar was shot dead from a point-blank range by a youth named Manish Bairagi. Both the deceased and the assailant belonged to the BJP.

Ruling out political vendetta in the murders, the police said personal enmity appeared to be the cause of all the three crimes. State’s public relations minister P C Sharma also echoed the police version, adding the BJP was creating an unnecessary hue and cry against the Kamal Nath government.

However, the BJP has smelled conspiracy in the murders. Demanding a CBI probe into the murder of Prahlad Bandhwar, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the law and order situation has collapsed in Madhya Pradesh.

The BJP on Monday organised demonstrations across the state to protest against the murders.