less than a year after limbs of a Dalit were chopped off in Abohar, a similar case was reported in Mansa district where a 20-year-old Dalit youth, allegedly involved in illicit liquor trade, was tortured to death and his leg chopped off by the rivals.
A case of murder has been registered against six people, including a Dalit, in connection with the incident.
Police said that the incident was a fallout of inter-gang rivalry and that the two groups had been involved in clashes in the past too.
The victim Sukhchain Singh and his friends were called by the other group on the pretext of settling a dispute on Monday. “Then they attacked Sukhchain and his friends with sharp edged weapons on Monday night. Though Sukhchain’s friends managed to flee, the other group brutally killed Sukhchain with sharp edged weapon,” said Mansa SSP Mukhwinder Singh.
His body was recovered from the house of Balbir, one of the accused, the police said.
There were injury marks on the body of Sukhchain and his leg was also found chopped off, said the police adding that efforts are on to trace the missing limb.
The SSP said that a team of police officials has been formed to arrest the accused. “We have registered a case of murder against six accused and we shall soon arrest them,” he said.
The accused have been identified as Balbir Singh, Hardeep Singh, Amandeep Singh, Sadhu Singh, Babrik Singh and Sita Singh, the police said.
Meanwhile, the family of the victim has refused to cremate the body until the chopped off limb is found.
A similar incident was reported in the state last year. A Dalit Bheem Tank and his friend, Gurjant Singh, were allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons in Abohar in Fazilka last year. Bheem’s limbs were chopped off and he later died in hospital.
A prominent ruling Akali Dal leader, Shiv lal Doda’s men were alleged to have been involved in the attack that took place at his farmhouse.
FAMIlY REFUSED TO CREMATE
Sukhchain’s family on Wednesday refused to cremate the body till his missing leg was found and his assailants arrested.
The young man’s family said that his attackers belonged to upper caste landlord families and the Punjab Police was not taking action against them because they wielded considerable clout.
The victim’s father Resham Singh said that his son was threatened by the rival gang in the past. Victim’s mother Karamjeet Kaur alleged that the accused smugglers had planned the attack and had gave Rs five lakh to the police to ensure their inaction.
The incident took a political turn when family of the victim blamed SAD MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder for protecting the accused in the case. However, Bhundar categorically denied the allegations levelled against him saying, “I am not in Mansa for the last couple of days and I have no connection with either of the accused booked in this case”.