Guna encounter case: BJP, Congress leaders post photos revealing politician-criminal nexus

Stirred by the incident, the politicians in the area are now trying to pull each other into the dock by releasing pictures on social media that clearly indicate the political linkages of the poachers.

Bhopal:After the recent death of three police officials and two hunters during an encounter in the forests of Guna, Ministers from Congress and BJP have posted photographs suggesting strong political links of the poachers involved in the infamous encounter. Two days ago, a group of poachers gone hunting black deer and peacocks in the Aaron forest of Guna had an encounter with the police. Three policemen were martyred in this encounter, while a hunter was also killed. Another encounter that followed the search operation in the matter took the life of another accused, hiking the total death count to five.

While the incident raised major questions on the audacity of the poachers who allegedly opened fire at the police officials, the possibility of an influential hand behind the poaching was being contemplated. Stirred by the incident, the politicians in the area are now trying to pull each other into the dock by releasing pictures on social media that clearly indicate the political linkages of the poachers.

Former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh's son and former minister Jaivardhan Singh tweeted some pictures taking a dig at minister VD Sharma. "What happened VD Sharma, why has the entire BJP fallen silent as soon as the names of Maharaj's men in the Guna murder case came up? What are these hunters are doing with the Rural Development Minister during the special feast? If you have the courage, ask the minister to resign and do justice to the martyrs," his tweet read, along with a photo of the poachers with the said minister.

Meanwhile, BJP state spokesperson Dr. Hitesh Bajpai shared a picture of Jaivardhan Singh with a person, writing, "Are these not the people who have the blood of soldiers of Madhya Pradesh on their foreheads? Can you tell Digvijay Singh that your son Jaivardhan Singh is not on the wrong track? Earlier in a tweet, Vajpayee wrote, "Koi ki man nahi hota hai Jaivardhan". You should be happy that the Shivraj-Sarkar eliminated the killers of the police without any favoritism or leaving the path of Muslim appeasement like the Congress. This is the lesson for your 'family'. Try to be mature."

The pictures posted by both parties so far show that the accused have close relations with the leaders of both parties. While the encounter and its repercussions are being thoroughly investigated, the pictures posted by these politicians have given a direction to the probe.

Meanwhile, Guna's resident social worker Krishna Kumar Raghuvanshi has filed a petition in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on Sunday, wherein he has demanded a strict probe into the encounter. CJM Aditya Singh has accepted the petition and has fixed the hearing for May 17.

In the petition, the police's authority has been challenged, stating that the encounter was executed for the purpose of saving the powerful people and destroying the evidence. "Without any investigation, without arrest, three people have been murdered under the tag of an encounter. The law says if any person is involved in an incident, he should be arrested and produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. In such a situation, even the guidelines of the Supreme Court have not been followed. In this case FIR should be registered under section 157.' Raghuvanshi further said that this encounter 'reminded us of the Rowlatt Act of the British. No lawyers, no arguments, only police are paramount," he said.

In the early hours of Friday, more than 5 poachers shot and killed 3 policemen in Guna. A hunter Naushad Khan was also killed in this encounter. After the killing of the policemen, the police took action and till late Saturday night, in retaliation, 3 more accused were killed in the encounter. Another policeman named Dhirendra Gurjar was also injured in Shahzad's encounter that took place late Saturday.