THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, May 19: Padwa police in Palamu on Sunday morning discovered the body of a 30-year-old man identified as Ranjit Mehta, a battery rickshaw driver by profession, on the stretch of road between Padwa and Paton.
Mehta was crushed with a stone and a boulder, said the Padwa police. There was no sign of any firearms shot.
Blood-soaked stones and boulders were lying near the body. Police have preserved it for evidence.
The yellow gamchha (towel) of the deceased, having profuse stains of blood, was found on the body.
Sources said the killer or the killers, after crushing him with stones and boulders, covered the body with the gamchha of the deceased.
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His battery rickshaw, which he drove, was found abandoned two hundred meters away from his body.
Padwa police station officer in charge Chandra Shekhar said, “We have found the key for the battery rickshaw lying near the body.”
However, the cell phone of the deceased is missing and switched off, added the police officer.
Loot of the battery rickshaw is a totally ruled out affair.
Murder Suspected to be Linked to Land Dispute
Mehta’s murder is a case of pre planned and premeditated murder. Sources said it’s to grab high-priced land across the NH.
Mehta hailed from Nimia village under the Daltonganj town police station limits.
On Saturday, he took passengers and drove towards Padwa from Nimia around 3 pm.
It is 18 plus kms from Daltonganj to the place where the body of Mehta was found on Sunday morning.
The man was finished in the intervening night of Saturday/ Sunday.
Police officer quoting the wife of the deceased said, “A lingering land dispute is the prime cause of this murder.”
Again, the wife of the deceased told police, “The land row is with the people of the Mehta group as well as of the upper caste.”
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Family Names Suspects; Missing Father Adds Mystery
The police officer said the deceased’s family has counted on more than half a dozen people accusing them of conspiring to murder Mehta.
Sources said the deceased’s father (name withheld) continues to ‘disappear’ over the last four days.
The police officer said, “We have heard this too about the disappearance of the father of the deceased over the last four days.”
SDPO Sadar Mani Bhushan Prasad told this correspondent, “The family has not reported this disappearance matter to either the Daltonganj town police station or to the Padwa police station.”
“It’s really very intriguing. Father is disappearing over the last four days, and the family is tight-lipped without informing the police,” added the SDPO Sadar.
On the other hand the family insists that police/ outpost were duly informed about the disappearance of the father but it paid no attention or any seriousness was not shown in tracing or tracking the disappeared man.
