Madhya Pradesh minister assassinated
From N.D. Sharma

BHOPAL, Dec 16 — The body of the Madhya Pradesh Minister of Transport, Mr Likhiram Kanwre, was discovered by his nephew Munna Kanwre near his ancestral house in his Sonpuri village in Balaghat district around 6.30 this morning. Mr Kanwre’s hands were tied at the back and his neck was slashed.

A couple of pamphlets found near the body said the murder had been committed to avenge the killings of activists of the People’s War Group (PWG), a Naxalite outfit, in Andhra Pradesh, the police claimed. The pamphlets made a particular reference to the encounter killing of four PWG activists at Karim Nagar in Andhra Pradesh on December 1, according to the police.

This is the first time that an important public figure has been done away with by the Naxalites in Madhya Pradesh though Naxalite violence is not uncommon in parts of the Chhattisgarh and Mahakoshal regions.

The Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, accompanied by the Home Minister, Mr Nand Kumar Patel, the Chief Secretary, Mr K.S. Sharma, the Director-General chief police, Mr S.K. Tripathi, and the DGP (Intelligence), Mr A.N. Singh, left for the spot to take stock of the situation.

Mr Kanwre was campaigning for local bodies elections in his district and was said to have returned to his village around 10-30 or so last night. Preliminary reports received from Balaghat suggested that he was kidnapped by some unidentified people and his body was recovered near his house in the morning. The DIG (Intelligence), Mr Surendra Singh, however, said on the basis of the information received from the district police that soon after his return to his house last night Mr Kanwre was called out by some persons. He though, could not say who the callers were or who had told this to the district police.

Mr Kanwre’s parents, his wife and three children were in Bhopal. They were flown to Sonpuri village in a state government helicopter this mooring. Balaghat is some 430 km from Bhopal in the Mahakoshal region. Sonpuri village is 35 km away from the district headquarters.

Curious is the role of Mr Kanwre’s personal bodyguards and his follow-up guards. Mr Surendra Singh said Mr Kanwre’s bodyguards had remained at the Kirnapur police station, 3 km away from the village, at Mr Kanwre’s own bidding. On reaching the village, Mr Kanwre had asked the follow-up guards also to return to their barracks.

A senior state government official, who has served in districts for a number of years, told this correspondent the behaviour of the guards was quite unusual. Besides, whenever a minister was on tour, the district police always posted guards around the place of his stay whether it was government accommodation or private one, the official said.

Mr Surendra Singh said that an inquiry would be held into the conduct of Mr Kanwre’s guards.

The 42-year-old Kanwre was first elected to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly from Kirnapur constituency (of Balaghat district) in 1990. He was re-elected in 1993 and 1998. On December 25, 1995, he was inducted by Mr Digvijay Singh into his Council of Ministers as Minister of State and given excise portfolio. After last year’s Assembly elections, Mr Kanwre was appointed a Cabinet minister and put in charge of transport.

The state government offices remained closed today in honour of Mr Kanwre. A three-day morning has also been announced in the state.

Agencies add: The PWG Naxalites, who had called a two-day bandh against the killing of their leaders in Andhra Pradesh, are also operating in this district but this is the first time that a minister has become their target.

The state government has declared a three-day mourning for Kanwre. The inauguration of a light and sound show at Khajuraho slated for today was cancelled.

Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Home Minister Nand Kumar Patel and Director-General of Police S.C. Tripathi have left for the spot.

The People’s War Group is banned in Andhra Pradesh but in Madhya Pradesh it is not yet outlawed although a proposal to make its activities unlawful is said to have been under consideration of the state government for quite some time.

Reacting to Kanwre’s killing, the Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Mr Gauri Shanker Shejwar demanded immediate resignation of state Chief Minister Digvijay Singh.

The Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly said full details of the incident would be presented to the Governor, Bhai Mahavir, who would be urged to dismiss Mr Digvijay Singh in case he failed to resign on his own.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Government today suspended four senior police officers, including a DIG in connection with the murder of Transport Minister Likhiram Kanwre.

The decision to suspend Balaghat DIG J.D. Uikey, SP Akheto Sema, an ASP and a sub-divisional police officer was taken at a meeting Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had with Chief Secretary K.S. Sharma and DGP S.C. Tripathi, an official release said.

The State government also decided to set up a nine-member police committee, headed by DIG, R.C. Arora, to probe the killing.

NEW DELHI: The killing of a minister in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday night suspectedly by Naxalites led to pandemonium in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with BJP members demanding dismissal of the Congress government in the state and a CBI probe.

Agitated BJP members alleged the killing of the minister in Balaghat district was the result of intra-party rivalry in the state Congress, drawing loud protests from Congress members who accused the BJP of politicising the barbaric killing of the minister by Naxalites.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Mr Prahlad Singh Patel said the way Kanwre had been done to death gave rise to suspicion that the late minister was a victim of party groupism.

Demanding a CBI probe into the “gruesome” incident, he said it looked impossible that a Cabinet Minister in a Naxalite-affected district had been done to death by the extremists so near the district headquarters where an Inspector-General of Police and Deputy IG were posted.

Mr Patel was supported by his party colleagues Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Vinay Katiyar.

Congress members led by its Deputy Leader Madhavrao Scindia strongly contested the charges made by the BJP and accused them of giving political colour to the incident. “It is really very strange that the killing was not being viewed from a human angle, but political angle”, they said.

IG, SP transferred

BHOPAL, Dec 16 (UNI) — The Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to transfer four officers, including Inspector-General of Police and Balaghat Superintendent of Police, in connection with the murder of Transport Minister Likhiram Kanwre late last night.