Sr VHP leader, NSUI activist shot dead in MP

Two political leaders were brutally killed at two different places in Madhya Pradesh late on Friday night. While senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ravi Viswakarma was attacked with sharp weapons and later shot dead by masked assailants in Hosangabad, nearly 50 km from here, local National Students' Union of India (NSUI) leader Sonu Parochia was killed in a similar manner in Mandla, 150 from here.

Video showing killing of the VHP leader on Saturday went viral. "We have announced reward of Rs 10,000 each on ten accused, identified in the killing of the VHP leader", a senior police officer of Hosangabad district said on Saturday.

The video showed around half a dozen masked assailants waylaying the car in which the VHP leader along with a couple of his friends were travelling, and then pulling him out of the vehicle. The assailants were then seen attacking the VHP leader with sharp weapons and then opening fire on him. The VHP leader died on the spot. The two companions of the VHP leader were seen fleeing the spot in the video.

"We have recovered footage of a CCTV installed at a place close to the crime spot. All the assailants have been identified", the investigating officer said. Incidentally, the attack on the VHP leader came barely hours after he posted a message in social media indicating that he was going to make sensational exposure shortly. He however did not elaborate as to on which issue he sought to make exposure. Police sources said the VHP leader might have acquired some documents exposing illegal sand mining in Hosangabad district, leading to his brutal killing. The sand mafias in MP have been getting both political and official patronage for long.

The NSUI leader's killing was however attributed to his past enmity with the accused Happy Yadav. "We have announced a reward of Rs 10,000 on the accused", Mandla DSP Deepak Kumar Shukla said.