Ratlam (MP): In a sensational twist to the ‘murder’ of Himmat Patidar, who is believed to be an RSS worker from Ratlam district, Madhya Pradesh police Monday said the 36-year-old had faked his own killing, apparently to claim the insurance money totalling Rs 20 lakh to repay the debt.
In order to mislead the police, Patidar allegedly killed his farm labourer Madan Malviya (32) to pass it off as his own ‘murder’, and burnt his face to conceal the identity. Patidar is alive and is on the run, a senior police officer informed.
Police have established the identity of the deceased Malviya through DNA test, Ratlam Superintendent of Police Gaurav Tiwari told reporters during a press conference here.
The body, initially claimed to be that of Patidar, with the throat slit, was found in his field at Kamed village in Ratlam district, January 23. He added that within five days of recovery of the body, police have cracked the case.
The SP clarified that though Patidar used to attend RSS ‘shakhas’, he was not holding any post in the BJP’s parent organisation.
“During the probe, police found out that Madan Malviya, who used to work on Patidar’s farm, had gone missing from the same day on which Patidar was allegedly murdered. We also noticed that the physical build of the corpse resembled with Malviya,” the SP stated.
He informed that police initially believed that Malviya had ‘killed’ Patidar, but got suspicious after they found a diary near the dead body containing details like Patidar’s insurance policy number, his fixed deposits, bank pin number etc. Police also found a mobile phone handset with the body, but found out that all call-related data was deleted.
“This prompted us to order DNA test of the victim,” the SP said, adding that the test report revealed that the victim was not Patidar but Malviya.
Suggesting that Patidar’s planning was meticulous but for a flaw, the SP said the accused dressed the victim with his own clothes after killing him but didn’t change his underwear, an oversight that revealed the true identity of the deceased.
PTI