HP BJP Leaders Stopped from Meeting Family of Murder Victim, Party Announces Rallies on Saturday

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur and state BJP president Rajiv Bindal were on Friday stopped from entering Salooni town in Chamba to meet the family of a murder victim, prompting the party to announce state-wide rallies in protest. The BJP leaders were stopped at Chamera Dam in Salooni sub division, about 380 km from the state capital, by the police who had erected barricades and were deployed in large numbers.

In a statement, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla said strict action should be ensured against those involved in the heinous crime. The ruling Congress, meanwhile, hit back at the BJP accusing it of hindering the investigation by disobeying prohibitory orders imposed in the area, and said the police was doing a thorough probe in the case.

Section 144 of CrPC was imposed in Salooni on Thursday when a mob burned down the house of Musafir Hussain, accused of killing 28-year-old Manohar over an affair with his niece. The chopped body of Manohar was found in a drain in Bandal panchayat of Salooni on June 8, two days after he went missing. Police have arrested three persons, including Hussain. The others are Hussain’s wife Farida, and Shabir.

After being denied permission to meet Manohar’s family, the BJP leaders addressed a public gathering in Dalhousie, announcing that the party will organise rallies on the issue in all 12 district headquarters on Saturday. Addressing the gathering, Bindal and Thakur slammed Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for not visiting the family of the victim.

“We had come to console the family of the deceased and instil confidence in them. And had Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited the family, this situation could have been avoided,” Thakur said, reiterating his demand for a probe by the National Investigation Agency into the case. “We knew that our visit would not bring back Manohar but the family members would have got some consolation,” Thakur said. Thakur, also the Leader of Opposition, said the Congress government had dithered in ordering a probe by an appropriate agency into the Gudia rape case of 2017 and said the investigation was speeded up only after the BJP came to power.

BJP state chief Bindal said the party would submit a memorandum after the Saturday rallies to the Governor through the Deputy Commissioners. The episode has tainted the image of the state, often called “Dev Bhoomi and Veer Bhoomi,” Bindal said. The brutal killing in the case indicates that the accused is a habitual offender, he added.

He also called for an investigation into Hussain’s background, raising suspicion about his alleged land encroachments and illegally acquired assets, likening him to recently slain Uttar Pradesh gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad.

Responding to BJP’s charges on the issue, Cabinet ministers Jagat Singh Negi, Rohit Thakur and Anirudh Singh issued a joint statement in Shimla, accusing the BJP of politicising the incident. The ministers said the police promptly lodged an FIR in the case and have also arrested the accused. The BJP, they said, was hindering the police probe by gathering in large numbers in the area despite the imposition of prohibitory orders there.

Meanwhile, Governor Shukla said in a statement that such incidents in the peace-loving state of Himachal Pradesh were highly condemnable and appealed to the people to maintain peace and avoid taking law and order into their hands. The Vishva Hindu Parishad, too, has issued a statement on the incident calling for death penalty for the killers.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)