About a month after the 27-year-old youth was murdered and his mutilated body was found stuffed in three jute bags near a stream flowing down in the Chamba valley three days later, Himachal Pradesh Government on Friday handed over a compensation of Rs 4.12 lakh to the victim’s family.
Himachal Pradesh Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania handed over a cheque of Rs 4.12 lakh to the family members of Manohar Lal, who was murdered on June 6. Three days later, his body was found cut into eight pieces, and stuffed in three jute bags, near a stream in the Chamba valley.
“We transferred the compensation money of Rs 4,12,500 to the bank account of the family. The State Government has given the family half of the compensation money. The rest of the compensation money will be given after the completion of the police investigation. There is a provision of compensation of Rs 8.25 lakh in the SC/ST Act in Himachal Pradesh. The family was earlier given Rs 60,000 as immediate assistance,” said Chamba Deputy Commissioner Apoorav Devgun, who accompanied the Speaker and local SP Abhishek Kumar Yadav to the victim’s house.
During the meeting with the Speaker, Lal’s parents once again demanded stern punishment for their son’s killers.
Currently, the local administration has imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the Salooni subdivision, after Lal’s murder triggered communal tension in the area. Section 144, which bars the gathering of more than three people, will stay in place until positive feedback is received from the local intelligence wing.
The brutal killing, on June 6, got a communal tone when an agitated mob backed by local leaders protested outside the area police station in Kihar and later marched towards Sanghni, where they set on fire the houses of the accused, Musaffir Hussain, 40, on June 15.
Police have arrested three people and apprehended two juveniles on charges of murder and destroying evidence. The police had earlier said Hussain suspected Manohar was in a relationship with his minor niece. A cattle merchant who lived on a hilltop, Hussain allegedly invited Manohar to his house and killed him there.