BJP demands judicial probe into death of Chhattisgarh minister's relative

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday demanded a judicial probe into the death of Chhattisgarh minister TS Singh Deo’s relative who was found dead near the railway tracks in Bilaspur district on Friday. The BJP claimed that Veerbhadra Pratap Singh alias Sachin Baba, 42, was a suspect in a case related to an attack on Congress legislator Brihaspat Singh last year, and could have been murdered. Veerbhadra Pratap Singh was found dead near Belgahna railway station in Bilaspur district on Friday. Police said Veerbhadra was travelling from Raipur to Ambikapur 350km away on the Durg-Ambikapur Express and may have died due to an accidental fall from the train. His family has not made any statement about the circumstances of his death.

Veerbhadra, a district panchayat member, was among those arrested by the police last year for the attack on a convoy of Brihaspat Singh, the MLA from north Chhattisgarh’s Ramanujganj seat and widely seen as a loyalist of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.

After the attack in July 2021, Brihaspat Singh triggered a political firestorm in Chhattisgarh Congress when he accused health minister Singh Deo of engineering the attack on his convoy in Ambikapur. Singh Deo, the state’s health minister, had then walked out of the assembly and returned only when home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu issued an unequivocal statement that the allegation was false. Brihaspat Singh also had to issue an apology.

Bilaspur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Parul Mathur said the police were still probing the death and it appeared to be a case of accidental death.

“On Friday, the victim was travelling to Ambikapur from Raipur by Durg-Ambikapur Express and prima facie it seems he fell accidentally from the moving train and died of injuries,” Mathur said.

“Sachin (as he was known), who was a close relative of minister Singh Deo, was arrested last year in connection with the alleged attack on the convoy of Congress MLA Brihaspat Singh. The accident does not seem to be normal and it could be a political murder hence we demand a judicial probe,” BJP MLA and chief spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar said.

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