Bhopal/Chhatarpur: A sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh has been arrested for conspiring and staging an attack on his own office and official vehicle in a bid to falsely implicate a private university owner.
The police have arrested the accused SDM Anil Sapkale and the Sagar district divisional commissioner has suspended him with immediate effect. Five others, including a Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearer, have been arrested.
On Wednesday, Sapkale’s office and car had been attacked by a group of masked men who had fired shots in the air. The officer did not suffer any injuries. The SDM had pointed fingers against land mafia for the attack, saying this was because he had acted strongly against them recently.
After finding evidence that the SDM was the mastermind of the incident, police arrested him on Friday as well as Krishna University chairman Pushpendra Singh Gautam, BJP minority cell office-bearer Javed Akhtar and three others.
Gautam allegedly wanted to harm his rival, Khajuraho University’s Abhay Singh Bhadauria, and hatched the conspiracy of the attack with Sapkale. Investigators scanned call detail records, which suggested a money deal between Sapkale and Gautam, superintendent of police Tilak Singh Lodhi said.
A subsequent probe and seizure of mobile phones led to the discovery of the fact that the SDM had plotted the attack for monetary gains and was implicating a particular person, said the officer.
The SDM had earlier lodged a report with police after the attack, mentioning resentment against his anti-mafia drive as a possible motive. Sapkale in the past had lodged an FIR against Bhadauria over a land deal and the latter had secured bail recently in the case. Akhtar is also said to be associated with the SDM in connection with a land acquisition case where the BJP leader was to receive compensation.e BJP leader was to receive compensation.
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