4 held for two murders aimed at stirring communal tensions in MP

Two innocent people were killed in two separate incidents aimed at ratcheting up communal tensions in Khandwa city.

Madhya Pradesh police has arrested four people in connection with two murders—committed in the last three months with an aim to stir up communal tensions in Khandwa district-- following the death of a Hindu group leader in a clash between two communities in May earlier this year, the police said on Friday.

Police has arrested 24 people in connection with the murder of Phoolmali in May this year.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police in Khandwa, 271 km south west of Bhopal, arrested four persons on Thursday in connection with the two separate murders committed in July and August with a common link --- murder of a Hindu group leader Rajesh Phoolmali.

“Murder of Phoolmali in May led to the murder of Abdul Hafeez as revenge in July, whose murder led to the killing of Dhanraj Kanade in August,” said Khandwa superintendent of police Vivek Singh.

Both Hafeez and Kanade were innocent, with no link to Phoolmali’s murder, he said.

It all started with a clash between two religious communities on May 18 which resulted in the death of Rajesh Phoolmali, a former member of a Hindu group. He died in a hospital on May 31. The clash took place following a social media post hurting religious sentiments of one community.

The police arrested 24 persons in connection with the clash and murder, according to town inspector of Kotwali police station, Khandwa, Neeraj Mandloi.

On July 20, the police found the body of Abdul Hafeez, 48, a truck driver, with stab and gun-shot wounds near a railway line.

Singh said six persons, including Nikhil Deware and Amit Jain, were arrested on September 3 for murdering Hafeez with the motive to take revenge for Phoolmali’s killing.

On August 10, Dhanraj Kanade, 20, a resident of Chhota Aanwaar Padmkund ward in Khandwa city, was found with stab wounds. He died during treatment at Khandwa hospital.

Police said that it arrested Sohel alias Sonu and main accused Feroz, both residents of Khandwa city, on August 11 and 13 with the help of CCTV footage.

During interrogation, they said they killed Kanade to avenge Hafeez’s murder.

“As Feroz and Sohel believed that the members of Mahadevgarh Sangthan were behind the murder, they planned to kill a member of the said organisation. Kanade, a vegetable vendor, who was wearing a T-shirt that had ‘Mahadevgarh’ written over it, was stabbed near a car showroom on Pandhana road. Kanade was not a member of the organisation,” the statement said.

Police said the murders of Hafeez and Kanade were committed with the sole motive of disturbing communal harmony in Khandwa district and both the victims were innocent persons from the weaker section of the society and had nothing to do with any of the earlier incidents.

Singh said that despite the murders, people of the area have remained calm and maintained communal harmony.