The Vishnu Deo Sai-led Chhattisgarh government, in a significant move, has decided to hand over the investigation of the much debated Biranpur incident, where a Hindu youth identified as Bhuvneshwar Sahu was killed by a frenzied mob, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The incident was one of the most prominent issues taken up by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the State assembly election.
Informing about the move, the State’s Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai, while taking to X, said, “Justice will be done now, Bhuvneshwar will get justice, our government has recommended a CBI investigation into the Biranpur Incident. Bhuvneshwar Sahu who lost his live during the Biranpur violence will get justice, those who spread communal violence will not be spared anymore.”
The much awaited development has occurred months after the BJP made a grand comeback in the State securing 54 out of 90 seats including the Saja constituency, where Ishwar Sahu, father of the deceased Bhuvneshawar, registered an emphatic victory over 7-term MLA and former minister in the Bhupesh Baghel government, Ravindra Chaubey on a BJP ticket by a margin of 5000 votes.
Sahu, an ordinary villager who contested the election against the Congress’s heavyweight after his son was killed over a minor scuffle between the children, which later turned into a communal flare up between Hindus and Muslim in Biranpur village of Bemetara district, had defeated Chaubey against all odds. The victory in the election was nothing short of a miracle for a man, who had been running from pillar to post seeking justice for his deceased son until recently.
अब न्याय होगा…
भुनेश्वर को मिलेगा इंसाफ…हमारी सरकार ने बिरनपुर हिंसा की सीबीआई जांच की घोषणा कर दी है। बिरनपुर हिंसा में जान गंवाने वाले स्व. भुनेश्वर साहू को मिलेगा इंसाफ। सांप्रदायिक हिंसा फैलाने वालों की अब खैर नहीं है। pic.twitter.com/dK1ajw2XnP
— Vishnu Deo Sai (@vishnudsai) February 22, 2024
Reacting to the government’s move for a CBI investigation into the case, senior leader of the BJP, Kedarnath Gupta while speaking with the Organiser representative said, there was a policy of appeasement, Bhuvneshwar was killed over Love Jihad, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against as many as 36 people but only 12 were held in the case.
Further, 2000 police personnel were deployed in the village, but still, two Muslim brothers were killed, it’s nothing but a conspiracy of the Congress, a total of 30 innocent people were arrested in the latter killing, and they were put in jail for 10 months. A CBI investigation into the matter will reveal the murders alongside expose the political tricks used to plant seeds of enmity between the two communities, added Kedarnath Gupta.
The Biranpur incident
It is to be noted that the case pertains to the brutal murder of Bhuvneshwar Sahu of Biranpur village under the Saaja police station limits of Bemetara district in Chhattisgarh on April 8 last year. The cold-blooded murder of the youth occurred after a group of Islamists attacked the Hindu community over a minor scuffle between the two students returning from school and a youth of the Muslim community.
It was then reported that Bhuvneshwar Sahu was stabbed by a group of people, and when he fell unconscious, they took him along. Later, his body was found lying in an open space. Bhuvneshwar’s father, Ishwar Sahu had earlier alleged that his son was murdered due to a four-month enmity that aroused after a Muslim man married a girl from our community. He further alleged that the Hindus had a meeting ‘called’Hindu Sabha’ after they took a girl from our community; thus, they wanted to take revenge.
It was also claimed that the reason behind the growing enmity between the two communities was due to the number of incidents of Love Jihad that had occurred in the region over a couple of years’ time, which finally led to a violent clash between the groups in which Bhuvneshwar was killed.
The incident sparked a huge outrage among the Hindu community in the state following which calls were given for a state-wide shutdown by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). The shutdown call was also supported by the Bhilai Chamber of Commerce and the main opposition BJP whose state president Arun Sao had also paid a visit to the village and met with the victim’s family.
Allegations levelled by Sahu’s father
Notably, earlier in August, last year, Ishwar Sahu in a press conference had also labelled shocking allegations against the then Congress government of the State for tricking him. Sahu in the PC had alleged that he was tricked by the Sub divisional magistrate and block revenue officer, who allegedly took his signature on a paper pertaining to acceptance of compensation money proposed by the then government.
According to the charges labelled by Sahu, he was called up for a meeting, where SDM and the block revenue officer were already in attendance. Sahu claimed that he was told to sign a paper about which the officials informed him that the paper pertains to the development works of the village and already had signatures of the village head and others. Sahu further claimed that he didn’t intended to sign that paper but ultimately did it after the others insisted. Later on Sahu got to know that the paper signed by him pertains to the compensation amount offered by the then government which he already had refused in the past.
Sahu had further alleged that the others accused in the case were given a free run and not arrested, and whatever he wanted to mention in his statement against the accused was not being taken. “when I go to the Saaja police station for a Challan (receipt) police say come tomorrow and avoid my request, in such a scenario what can we expect from the government” remarked Sahu in the PC further.
स्व. भुनेश्वर साहू के पिता कह रहे हैं कि भूपेश सरकार के नुमाइंदों ने हमसे झूठ बोलकर हस्ताक्षर लिया।
आखिर सरकार भुनेश्वर के हत्यारे जिहादियों को क्यों बचा रही है? pic.twitter.com/3O3V8OyJgX
— BJP Chhattisgarh (@BJP4CGState) August 14, 2023
Notably, many senior leaders of the BJP in the run-up to the State assembly election had vowed to fight for the justice of Bhuvneshwar and punish the culprits if voted to power. The issue was one of the most debated in the political circles, which led the opposition BJP to hand over a ticket to Bhuvneshwar’s father, Ishwar Sahu from Saja constituency.
