The homes of three Muslim men accused of attacking a Bharatiya Janata Party worker were bulldozed in Bhopal on Thursday, The Indian Express reported. The demolitions took place a day after Mohan Yadav took oath as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
On December 5, Devendra Singh Thakur, an office-bearer of a BJP wing tasked with reaching out to slum residents, was allegedly attacked with a sword by a man named Farukh during an argument about the election results. Thakur sustained deep cuts on his hand, the police said.
In addition to Farukh, the police have booked four persons in connection with the case on attempted murder charges, The Times of India reported. They are Shahrukh Rain, Sameer alias Billu Rain, Aslam and Bilal Khan.
Manish Raj Singh Bhadoriya, the officer in-charge of the city’s Habibganj police station, claimed that the demolitions were carried out as violations had been found at the homes of three accused persons.
“The men got into a violent confrontation after they taunted each other over the election results,” the official said. “Farukh has a criminal record and charges under the NSA [National Security Act] have been slapped against him.”
While there is no legal provision to destroy the property of anyone accused of an offence, Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state governments have been increasingly demolishing the properties of accused persons. Many of these actions have been targeted at properties owned by Muslims.
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