Bhopal, Aug 30 Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday called state Cabinet minister Bhupendra Singh a "goon", accusing him of shielding those accused of killing a Dalit youth, Nitin Ahirwar, in Sagar district.
The senior Congress leader also held the police responsible for Ahirwar's murder, saying had the police taken unbiased action on the complaint registered by his sister Archana in 2019, her brother "would have been alive today on Rakshabandhan".
Singh made the remarks on Wednesday after meeting the victim's family during a visit to Sagar on Wednesday.
He claimed that those who killed Ahirwar belong to the youth wing of the BJP, and are Bhupendra Singh's supporters.
"They were the same persons who had molested Nitin's sisterin 2019. But the accused were not booked under molestation charges, because they are the minister's supporters. Had the police taken action on Archana's complaint, her brother Nitin would have been alive today on Rakshabandhan," he said while interacting with the mediapersons in Sagar on Wednesday.
He further said that Nitin's elder brother Vishnu Ahirwar was beaten up and forced to lick the shoes of the same accused.
"A video of that incident also surfaced on social media but the police did not take any action against the accused because they were the minister's supporters. This is how the Madhya Pradesh police work. This is shameful," he said.
Singh also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, saying building a temple of Sant Ravidas will not protect the rights of Dalit people.
"If PM Modi and CM Chouhan have faith for real in Sant Ravidas, they should remove Bhupendra Singh from ministerial position immediately," Singh added.
During a visit to Sagar on August 12, PM Modi laid the foundation of Sant Ravidas temple to be built by the state government at a cost of Rs 100 crore.
Nitin Ahirwar (20), a Dalit, was beaten to death by key accused identified as Vikram Singh (28) and eight others after Ahirwar refused to withdraw a sexual harassment case lodged by his sister.
The accused had also attacked Nitin's mother in his village in Khurai in Surkhi assembly constituency which is represented by state urban development minister Bhupendra Singh.
Nine accused involved in the matter have been arrested so far while some were still on run.
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