Appoint Special Task Force to probe Dalit killings: Maharashtra guv

Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao on Saturday asked the state director general of police, Sanjeev Dayal to appoint a Special Task Force to probe the killing of three members of a Dalit family at Javkheda, Ahmednagar this week.

Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao on Saturday asked the state director general of police, Sanjeev Dayal to appoint a Special Task Force (STF) to probe the brutal killing of three members of a Dalit family at village Javkheda in Pathardi taluka of Ahmednagar district this week.

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The governor telephoned the DGP after meeting a delegation of RPI led by Ramdas Athawale met him at Raj Bhavan.

Describing the incident as an act of gross cruelty which cannot be tolerated, the governor told the delegation that a compensation of Rs 3.75 lakhs has been disbursed to the family members of the deceased family.

The governor said he will soon be convening a high level meeting to review all the cases of atrocities against the dalits in the state and effective implementation of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act.

The 20-member delegation of Republican Party of India (Athawale) led by national president Ramdas Athawale met the governor and demanded a CID enquiry into the Javkheda Dalit killing incident, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.

Complaining that no strict action had been made even after four days, Athawale demanded immediate arrest of persons who murdered Sanjay Jadhav, Jayashree Jadhav and Sunil Jadhav.

Mentioning that the present case is the fourth major incident of atrocity against Dalits in the Ahmednagar district, he demanded that the entire Ahmednagar be declared atrocity-prone district.

He also demanded a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the family of the victim. Former principal secretary to the state government Uttam Khobragade, former IPS officer PK Jain and office bearers of RPI(A) were present.

On October 21, a day after the killings, bodies of three members, one of them decapitated were found dumped in a dry well in Javkheda village.