70-year-old murdered in Chhattisgarh for refusing to part with ‘magical’ stone

Police superintendent Vijay Agarwal said Babulal Yadav claimed to have the stone, which could turn any stone into gold and also search for buried gold

A 70-year-old man was allegedly murdered in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district after he refused to part with “a magical” stone he claimed to possess, police said.

Police said they have arrested the 10 accused. (HT PHOTO)

Police superintendent Vijay Agarwal said Babulal Yadav claimed to have the magical stone, which could turn any stone into gold and also search for buried gold. “On July 8, 10 people, including a woman, took him away from his home to the nearby jungle and tied him with a rope and asked him about the stone but he refused to provide details. Subsequently, five of the accused went to his home in search of the stone. The accused even dug up a room...”

He added the accused also thrashed Yadav’s wife and looted jewellery and cash before returning to the jungle. “The accused again beat Yadav and then killed him and buried his body in the jungle.”

Agarwal said two of the accused, Tekchandra Jaiswal and Rajesh Harvansh, were detained on Sunday. “They misled the police first but on Monday confessed to having killed Yadav along with the other accused.”

Police said they have arrested all the 10 accused and exhumed Yadav’s body for post-mortem. “ The accused confessed that they killed Yadav because they wanted the magical stone. We have also recovered jewellery and cash looted from Yadav’s home from the accused,” said Agarwal. He added further probe into the case was going on.