The Niwari police in Madhya Pradesh have registered a case against seven persons for reportedly killing a 35-year-old man on Wednesday evening.
“It was a case of old rivalry between the two sides,” claimed Karanpal Singh, in charge of the Sendari police station under whose limit Sunil Tiwari was reportedly thrashed with sticks and his feet crushed using a jeep. “Gunshots were also fired. But whether the victim was also hit will be revealed in the post mortem report.”
While the victim’s brother told reporters that Sunil worked as a journalist for a Hindi daily, Mr. Singh claimed the deceased owned only a motorcycle agency and wasn’t a journalist.
Sunil was returning along with his brother on motorcycles when they were waylaid by a group led by one Awadesh Tiwari near Putri Khera village at 6.30 p.m.. “He died of his injuries at the Jhansi hospital, where he was taken by the family,” said Mr. Singh. The case has been registered under Section 302 (Punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police claimed both the sides had a property dispute and quarrelled over administering a traditional form of treatment for jaundice at a local temple.
Superintendent of Police Vahni Singh told reporters that a land dispute was resolved by revenue and police officials on July 14. “It was found the land claimed by Sunil Tiwari was not his, and he had accepted it,” she said. Whereas, Awadesh Tiwari had a criminal background and had more than 10 cases against him.
Days before the incident, Sunil in a video message shared on the social media claimed he had received death threats from Awadesh and others for a year. “They are threatening to kill me and my family, and have demanded a Rs. 5 lakh ransom. These are people with political connections,” he purportedly said in the video, claiming he informed of the threats to the Superintendent of the Police and the Collector as well.
“I am a simple journalist who revealed some of their irregularities,” he had said. “I got two of their licences cancelled which they got in a fake manner.”
