The man arrested on Saturday in connection with the death of a 65-year-old differently-abled Jain man in Neemuch district has told police he was was assaulting the senior citizen under the influence of alcohol and was trying to find out where the man lived as he was behaving oddly.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Dinesh Kushwaha was arrested on Saturday after a video clip of him slapping 65-year-old Bhanwarlal Jain and demanding his Aadhaar card surfaced on social media. In the video, the accused was seen repeatedly asking Jain if his name was Mohammad.
Jain had gone missing from his house on May 16 and was found dead on May 19 close to the spot where he was assaulted by Kushwaha. According to police officers familiar with the case, Kushwaha had not made it clear when he assaulted Jain, but he uploaded the video of the incident on May 18.
Neemuch superintendent of police, Suraj Verma, said on Sunday that Kushwaha had confessed to the assault. He quoted the accused as saying: “I was in an intoxicated condition and inquiring for whereabouts of Bhanwarlal Jain near Rampur area as I saw him roaming around and behaving unusually. I slapped him because he was not answering my questions.”
“In the interrogation, Kushwaha said he was going to eat paan when he saw Jain roaming on the road in the night. Kushwaha was in an intoxicated state. He stopped his vehicle because Jain was behaving unusually. Kushwaha asked for his name and address. Jain was stammering and saying ‘Mo’ again and again. He asked were you Mohammad and he asked for his Aadhar card and identity card. He started slapping him,” said SP Verma.
He asked a passerby to shoot a video on his mobile phone. Later, he started dragging him to the police station but Jain started crying and touched his feet. He returned to his house by leaving Jain on the road, said the SP.
Speaking about Jain, Verma said: “He fainted on the spot and some locals informed the police and police took him to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead. On the basis of a missing complaint, the police informed the family for identification.”
“Kushwaha himself posted the video in a group on May 18 late night. However, he has not cleared when did he meet Jain on May 17 or 18. We are also waiting for the post mortem report to know the cause of death,” said Verma.
Police are also trying to nab the person who shot the video and also verifying the claims of Kushwaha with the help of CCTV footage.
Police produced Kushwaha before the court on Sunday and the court sent him on police remand for three days.