The Hindu : Front Page : Two ABVP leaders charged with murder

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Friday, Sep 01, 2006

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Two ABVP leaders charged with murder

Ujjain (MP): Amid growing outrage over the death of a professor after being allegedly manhandled during college elections here, the police on Thursday arrested two Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leaders, Shashiranjan Akela and Vimal Tomar, and charged them with murder.

Akela and Tomar, president and secretary respectively of the State unit of the ABVP, were remanded to police custody till September 2 by the judicial magistrate's court here.

Assault case

They had on Wednesday surrendered to the police in connection with the alleged manhandling of Professor M.L. Nath on August 26 during student union polls at Madhav College that were cancelled following complaints of irregularities.

Akela and Tomar were formally arrested by the CID for the murder of another professor, H.S. Sabharwal, who died shortly after the attack by students.

The two leaders were seen on TV footage threatening Mr. Nath after the elections were cancelled. Police said the other accused in the case were yet to be identified.

The FIR on Mr. Sabharwal's death was filed on the basis of a complaint by college peon Komal Singh Sengar. Apart from the murder case, police have booked students for manhandling and throwing mud at Mr. Nath and for arson and violence.

Akela, Tomar and Sanjeev Jain, a worker of the NCP's Disha Kisaan Sangathan, were among eight persons arrested for the attack on Mr. Nath. Five of them have been released on bail.

NSUI men get bail

Twenty-three NSUI workers were also arrested for arson and violence at the college. They were released on Thursday on bail after paying a surety of Rs. 10,000 each.

Alleging registration of fake cases against NSUI workers, local Congress leaders claimed their names had figured in a list of offenders submitted by the college authorities and thus "it was decided to ask them to court arrest".

Professor Sabharwal's son, Himanshu Sabharwal, who described as an "eyewash" the police probe into the death of his father, said he had sent a petition to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and plans to move the Supreme Court with a plea for justice.

Mr. Sabharwal was also planning to approach the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with the plea. "I have written to the President seeking justice," he said.

"Police action is an eyewash. The State Government is trying to shelter the accused," he said, adding that "Even the CID probe into the incident is inadequate as it is a State Government arm."

"I will also file a special leave petition before the Supreme Court and approach the NHRC, seeking justice in the case," he added. — PTI

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