BHOPAL: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday have taken into custody Guna district’s Raghogarh town inspector Zuber Khan in connection with the custodial death of a Pardi community member in Guna district.
CBI is yet to make a statement on the fresh arrest in the custody death case
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Police said a CBI team which reached Guna on Tuesday interrogated Zuber Khan and later placed him under arrest. “At around 9 pm, the town inspector underwent a medical checkup at the district hospital. After this, the team left with him for Indore on Wednesday,” said the officer.
CBI is yet to release a statement in this regard.
The agency arrested sub-inspector Devraj Singh Parihar in July this year.
On July 15, 2025, Deva Pardi (25), a resident of Bilakhedi, was arrested by police in connection with a theft case when he was about to leave for his wedding in a neighbouring village. Late in the night, the family received information from the district hospital that a Pardhi youth had been brought for autopsy.
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On reaching the hospital, the family found that Deva had died in custody.
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On reaching the hospital, the family found that Deva had died in custody.
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At the time, police had claimed that he was taken into custody in connection with a theft of ₹8 lakh and that Deva Pardhi died due to a cardiac arrest.
His family alleged that he was tortured to death in custody. The woman Deva Pardhi was to marry attempted to die by suicide outside the police station and was later admitted to the Guna district hospital.
Later, Deva’s mother filed a petition in the Supreme Court which ordered a CBI probe on May 15.
‘Why were the two police officers whose role is suspicious, only line attached and not arrested?’ The accused policemen should be arrested within a month and a charge sheet should be presented within 90 days of their arrest,” the top court had observed at the time.
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.
