Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 15 Bharatiya Janata party MLA from Hastinapur Assembly segment, Dinesh Khatik and 13 others have been booked for abetment of suicide after one Omkar Singh Tomar, 48, allegedly ended his life and reportedly named the BJP MLA as one of the persons to be held responsible.
According to the family of the deceased, Khatik had been allegedly putting pressure on Tomar to shell out Rs 15 lakh to settle a dowry case registered against Tomar's son.
Khatik, however, refuted all charges and said, "I was asked to mediate on behalf of Tomar's family and I was doing that. I have no role in his suicide and will fully cooperate with police investigation."
According to reports, the elder son of the deceased had married a woman from Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar, in 2020 but, a few months later a marital dispute arose and a case of dowry was registered in Khatauli police station against Tomar's family.
Khatik was reportedly mediating between the two families to arrive at a compromise, sources said.
Divyesh Tomar, the deceased's son and complainant, in the FIR, however, blamed Khatik and his followers for driving his father to take the extreme step.
"My father was put under intense pressure by MLA Khatik and his men, who had threatened us to give Rs 15 lakh and a car as compromise money and return all belongings of the woman's family. My father had shown inability to shell out so much cash but Khatik's men came to our house and threatened us with a fake case of acid attack. Under tremendous pressure, my father eventually committed suicide on Saturday," Divyesh Tomar said.
According to Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Sahni, 14 individuals, including the MLA, have been booked and further investigations are on in the matter.
( With inputs from IANS )
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