4 including contract killer caught for killing Vidisha contactor who filed RTIs

Vidisha superintendent of police Monika Shukla said Jaswant Raghuvanshi, also a contractor, made the payment and gave the weapon, to Ankit Yadav, who pulled the trigger

Published on: Jun 3, 2022, 18:22:19 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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BHOPAL: Three local contractors in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district have been arrested on charges of killing Ranjeet Soni, a contractor who also filed right to information requests with the public works department (PWD), police said. Ankit Yadav, the 24-year-old who allegedly pulled the trigger, has also been caught.

Soni was shot dead outside the PWD office in Vidisha, about 60km from state capital Bhopal.

The hitman and three contractors, Aish Kumar Chaubey, Jaswant Raghuvanshi and Naresh Sharma, have been arrested, said Sameer Yadav, additional superintendent of police (addl SP), Vidisha.

Yadav said the three accused told the police in their preliminary interrogation that they decided to eliminate Ranjeet Soni because he was creating trouble for them in the context of some contracts. Yadav did not elaborate, saying the investigation was still at its initial stages.

The three allegedly hired Ankit Yadav, a resident of Raisen about 30km from Vidisha to kill Soni.

“Yadav came on a bike and shot him on the head, and went back to his village in the neighbouring Raisen district,” said Yadav.

The contract killer was the first one to be tracked down and was arrested within hours of the crime. He allegedly told the police team that he was hired by Jaswant Raghuvanshi, who named the others.

The police officer said the accused and Soni had been rivals for some time and filed cross-cases in 2017, accusing the other of posing a threat to their life.

Ranjeet Soni is also an accused in a cheque bounce case registered in 2016 which is still pending.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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