LPG agency owner, 2 others booked for Dalit activist's suicide

Days after social activist Arvind Bansod, a Dalit, allegedly committed suicide here in Maharashtra, police have slapped abetment charges against an LPG agency owner and two others, while a new investigating officer has been given the case, officials said on Monday. The police action came after a row erupted over the issue with local Dalit leaders demanding a thorough probe into the matter.

The police last week filed a case against LPG agency owner Mithilesh alias Mayur Bandopant Umarkar and his two friends under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide), they said. Bansod (32), a local social activist and Dalit, was a resident of Pimpaldhara village under Narkhed tehsil of Nagpur district.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Ola on Monday said the probe in the case has been handed over to Sub- Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Nagesh Jadhav after looking at various representations submitted to him. Earlier, the case was being handled by an Assistant Police Inspector of the local police.

We are investigating the case from all possible angles, Ola said. The SP said statements of the victim's relatives and owner of the shop from where Bansod had purchased pesticides have been recorded.

Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut, earlier in the day, said a high-level inquiry will be initiated in the suicide case to ensure justice to Bansod's family. On May 27, Bansod and his friend Gajanan Raut, travelling on a motorcycle, stopped near the gas agency and started clicking pictures of the outlet, an official said.

Umarkar and his two friends objected to the duo taking pictures and they allegedly slapped and abused Bansod, he said. Bansod asked Gajanan Raut to go and get petrol filled in the motorbike. In the meantime, the social activist went to a nearby shop from where he purchased pesticides and consumed it, the official said.

When Gajanan Raut returned to the spot, he found Bansod lying on the ground. Bansod was later admitted to a hospital where he died on May 29, he said. Based on a complaint by the deceased's brother, the police filed the abetment of suicide case against the trio, the official said.

No arrest has been made so far, he said, adding Umarkar has obtained anticipatory bail from the local court. Meanwhile, talking to PTI, Nitin Raut, who is also Guardian Minister of Nagpur district, said he met the SP and other police officials, and enquired about the case.

"I have checked the post-mortem report and statements related to the case. I have directed the SP to initiate a high-level inquiry into the case and ensure justice to the family of the deceased," the minister said..