Chhattisgarh:1 Dead, 16 Injured; 2 Cops Suspended In Jashpur Incident. Here’s What Happened

Two occupants of the vehicle, Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu , natives of Singrauli in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, were later arrested from the outskirts of the town

Screenshot of Viral Video from Jashpur. (File Photo)

New Delhi: A speeding SUV rammed into a religious procession leaving one person dead and 16 injured at Pathalgaon in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh on Friday afternoon. The deceased man was identified as Gaurav Agrawal (21), according to the PTI report.

Two occupants of the vehicle, Bablu Vishwakarma (21) and Shishupal Sahu (26), natives of Singrauli in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, were later arrested from the outskirts of the town while the vehicle itself was found burning, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said while sharing the status of the incident through a tweet. 

What is Chhattisgarh's Jashpur incident all about?

The above incident took place at the time of procession when Goddess Durga idols were taken taken for immersion by residents of Bazarpara locality, according to the PTI report. Going by the locals, the two were smuggling ganja and set the SUV on fire to destroy the evidence as they were being chased.

Tension continued to simmer in the town as the large number of people gathered outside the Pathalgaon police station.  "One died, two were critically injured, while 15 received minor injuries," superintendent of police (SP) Vijay Agrawal was quoted as saying by the ANI news agency.

Sharing police action in the incident, the SP added that two cops – the Pathalgaon Station House Officer (SHO) and the Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) – have been suspended from duty.

Calling the incident as “sad and heart-wrenching”, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel informed the accused were immediately arrested and action has also been taken against some police officers who were prima facie found at fault.

 “An inquiry has been ordered. No one will be spared. Justice will be done to all. May the departed soul rest in peace. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured, Baghel tweeted in Hindi.

Senior BJP leader and former chief minister Raman Singh demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the kin of the deceased. Singh tweeted a video of the incident and wrote, This video is very painful. In Chhattisgarh, the drug mafias have no fear of anyone. Will those taking out religious processions be crushed like this now? “Jashpur SP (Superintendent of Police) should be removed immediately. The kin of the deceased should be given Rs 50 lakh compensation and immediate arrangements should be made for the treatment of the injured, he demanded.

The incident, which took place on Dussehra attracted criticism from the political quarters with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel hitting out at his counterpart CM Yogi Adityanath on Friday.  He compared the incident to Lakhimpur Kheri, which witnessed eight killings on October 3, and pointed out at the failure to immediately arrest the accused in his state, who is the son of a Union minister, while the accused in the Jashpur incident were held within one day.