Two people were killed in Banwar village of Damoh district on Friday night during a brawl that broke out after BJP MLA Dharmendra Singh Lodhi’s birthday party. Four people were booked and two of them were arrested for murder in connection with the incident, police said.
The incident took place under Nohata police station limits. Police identified the deceased as Jogendra Singh and Arvind Jain.
MLA Lodhi denied any connection with the incident and said he had left the party much before the fight broke out.
According to police, Jogendra Singh died of a gunshot wound, while Arvind Jain — a history sheeter — died of multiple wounds to the face and head, reportedly caused by stones.
Damoh Superintendent of Police, Hemant Chouhan, said that after MLA Lodhi’s birthday party, two groups, one of Arvind Jain and the other of a person identified as Kalyan Singh, got into a tussle at a bus stand. However, police personnel from Nohata police station reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
Around 11 pm however, Arvind Jain and his group reached Kalyan Singh’s house and reportedly began hurling abuses. “It was during this that a person identified as Rahul Jain fired a round which hit Jogendra Singh, who was not involved in the earlier brawl,” said SP Chouhan, adding that Jain and his group were then attacked by members of the other group and Arvind Jain sustained multiple injuries on his head during the brawl.
According to the SP, both bodies were taken to the district hospital for a post-mortem, while police have booked four people from both groups — of which two people, one from each group, have been arrested so far for murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
MLA Lodhi said he was not aware of the incident. “I left the party at 8 pm and the incident occurred nearly three hours after it. It is not correct to link it to me, it was a fight between two groups.”
When asked if he had any connection to Jain, Lodhi said: “He was not my representative. There were many people in the party. Many want to click pictures with their MLA. That does not mean it was my representative.”