Four years on, Maharashtra soldier starts Twitter campaign to seek justice for murdered mother

At a time when the country is showering praises on the Indian Army for executing a perfect surgical strike in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), a soldier from Nanded

At a time when the country is showering praises on the Indian Army for executing a perfect surgical strike in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), a soldier from Nanded has been fighting for more than five years to bring the killer of his mother, Saraswati Ambaji Bansode, to book.

Laxman Bansode, a hawaldar in Mahar regiment, has now started a Twitter campaign — #JusticeForRohitBansode — with of his younger brother Rohidas, to help the family get justice. The campaign has received a positive response from commoners and politicos alike. Bansode, currently posted in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, want’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the murder case, which is currently being investigated by the Crime Investigation Department (CID).

Laxman (42), while speaking to HT, said his mother’s head was smashed with a rock, which was found at the murder site. However, the police were refusing to take it as an evidence. “My mother was brutally killed, as there were number of injuries on her body clearly indicating that she was tortured before being murdered,” he said.

The Bansode’s were allegedly threatened to such an extent that they fled their ancestral home in Panbhoshi village within few months of the incident and have been living on rent in another tehsil of the district ever since.

Rohidas (26), his younger brother, said the killers were insisting that the family sell their 2.5-acre farm. “My mother not only refused to sell the land, but paid no heed to the threats issued by them. Despite the cold-blooded murder, the accused got anticipatory bail and they are still roaming free. Our wait for justice seems to be unending. That’s when I decided to take to Twitter to voice our plight,” said Rohidas, an Arts graduate.

In their campaign, the Bansode’s have tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and several other ministers. So far, the campaign has received support from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who retweeted his post. While Chirag Paswan, an MP from Bihar, has been following up the case very seriously. He even wrote a letter to the Fadnavis, and even taken Laxman along with him to meet Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Paswan also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Laxman said the home minister had then assured to hand over the case to CBI, but nothing has been so far. “What to expect if a soldier of the country is not getting justice from his own countrymen,” Laxman said.