2 accused of killing 6 of family in Madhya Pradesh arrested

Two of the main accused in the killing of six members of a family at Lepa-Bhidosa in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena were arrested late on Monday after an exchange of fire, a police officer said on Tuesday.

Four other accused remained on the run. (HT PHOTO)

Inspector general Sushant Saxena said that Ajit Singh Tomar and Bhupendra Singh Tomar, the two accused, were hiding in ravines in Mahua village. “Police cordoned off the area and tried to nab them on Monday night but Ajit started firing. Police retaliated and fired at the accused. After the firing stopped, the police caught both of them,” said Saxena.
He said Ajit Singh Tomar was found with a gunshot injury in his left leg and was sent to Morena along with the other accused after first aid. Saxena added that four other accused remained on the run.
The six members of the family were killed while two others were grievously injured in a shootout in broad daylight over a 2013 land dispute in Lepa-Bhidosa.
Police said in 2013 the families of Dheer Singh Tomar and Ranjeet Tomar quarrelled over a 400-square-foot land. Dheer Singh Tomar was using the land to dispose of garbage and cow dung. Ranjeet Tomar and his cousin Gajendra Singh Tomar objected at that point because they claimed that their grandfather donated the land as an extension for the local school. The dispute escalated, and Ranjeet Singh Tomar and three others allegedly killed two members of Dheer Singh Tomar’s family.
All four accused in the case were arrested and were later given bail. But tensions continued, and the families of Ranjeet Tomar and Gajendra Tomar moved to Ahmedabad in 2014. They were attacked after they returned to the village after an out-of-court settlement.