Mandsaur: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who was shot following an argument at a marriage function over a discourse of jailed self-styled godman Rampal being shown on an LCD screen in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district, died on Monday, police said. According to the police, the incident in Bhainsoda village of the district, some 150km from Mandsaur district headquarters, took place on Sunday, and cases were registered against 11 persons, 4 of whom have now been arrested.
Sunil Pandey, Mandsaur SP, said BJP leader Devilal Meena, who was a former sarpanch, was shot dead by Bajrang Dal leader, Shailendra Ojha, both residents of Bhainsoda village of the district. Rampal, who had an ashram in Haryana’s Hisar, was held in November 2014 following allegations of murders in the premises and was later sentenced to life imprisonment without remission in 2018 for murder, wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy.
Rampal opposed the Hindu rituals and held a campaign to shun the ‘holy trinity’ of the Hindu pantheon Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. “Members of Rampal’s ashram had come to the village on an invitation. Ojha, who is a regional president of Bajrang Dal, opposed it and asked Meena not to allow anti-Hindu activities in the village,” the SP said.“On Sunday, a large number of villagers opened fire and also attacked the attendees with rods and canes. Meena tried to stop them, but Ojha shot at him. Meena was rushed to a hospital in Kota where he died while undergoing treatment,” said Gopal Suryavanshi, town inspector of Bhanpura. “The main accused is still absconding.”