Locals and Hindu activists protesting on the road- left, volunteers of Bajrang Dal during torch procession- right
Chhattisgarh police have constituted a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) which will investigate a case linked to the death of a Bajrang Dal worker, Sujit Swarnkar alias Sujit Soni and Kiran Kashi whose bodies were recovered from a forest in Balrampur of Chhattisgarh under mysterious circumstances on May 27.
According to the notification issued by the government, a SIT under the observation of Inspector General of Police, Surguja range, Ankit Garg will investigate the matter and submit its report within seven days.
The team will be headed by Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP), Raipur, Ratna Singh who will be assisted by Deputy Superintendent of Police (Naxal Ops), Surguja, Manak Ram Kashyap.
Other members of the SIT include of two forensic experts from Surguja, an Inspector, sub-inspector and other personnel of the state police. The development has taken place in the wake of ongoing protest by the residents and Hindu activists of Balrampur who have been hitting the streets demanding a fair probe into the matter lately.
Earlier Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Minister for Tribal Affairs, Agriculture Development and Farmer Welfare, Ramvichar Netam also penned a letter to the Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister, Vijay Sharma seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) enquiry into the matter.
In the letter, Netam had highlighted that in accordance with the public sentiments and demands of the family members of deceased, it looks necessary that a high level inquiry be done into the case.
Protest by VHP, Bajrang Dal
Notably, volunteers of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its youth wing Bajrang Dal have been hitting the streets demanding a fair probe into the matter since day one of the recovery of Sujit body from Dumrukhi forest.
More recently, the volunteers of Bajrang Dal had also taken out a torch procession (Jan Aakrosh Mashaal Rally) expressing solidarity with Sujit and Kashi in Balrampur town on Thursday, June 6.
The torch procession follows protest orchestrated by volunteers of VHP and locals on June 30 after the police detained three suspects in the case and claimed that Sujit and the woman were electrocuted by a trap laid by the arrested accused who had set it up for wild animals during a hunting exercise
Further the VHP unit of Chhattisgarh also submitted a letter to the Chief Minister demanding a high level enquiry into the case. In the letter to the Chief Minister, VHP while demanding for stringent action against the culprits and had alleged that injury marks were found on the body of Sujit indicating torture before his murder.
Further in a separate press release, VHP had also alleged that Sujit was constantly receiving threats on his cell phone about which he had also informed the VHP officials and the police.
It is noteworthy that bodies of Sujit and Kashi were found meters away from the highway in a forest under Dumrukhi police station limits of Balrampur on May 27. Sujit was a volunteer of Bajrang Dal who was reported to be working against cow smuggling in the bordering town of Balrampur adjoining Jharkhand.
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