The police on Thursday arrested BJP leader Tarachand Rathore and his son on the charge of murdering Manoj Thakre, a local-level party functionary, by hiring contract killers.
Thakre (45) was found dead at Balwadi, about 100 km from Barwani district headquarters, on the morning of January 20 with injury marks on his face and neck.
While talking to media persons on Thursday, Superintendent of Police Yangchen Dolkar Bhutia said the investigators have arrested Tarachand Rathore, his son Vijay Rathore who is panchayat secretary of village Khokhri, and five others including alleged contract killers.
"Rathore and his son Vijay were upset over the increasing popularity of Thakre who was BJP's Balwadi mandal chief. People went to Thakre for their work which peeved Rathore," said Bhutia.
Rathore allegedly got in touch with some contract killers through his confidante Jhagardiya Panwara in the last week of December and offered them Rs five lakh to eliminate Thakre, she said.
On January 20, when Thakre was on a morning walk, he was attacked with an axe at Tikiyapani square. As he fell down, the assailants dragged him into nearby bushes and crushed his head with stones before fleeing, she said.