Man who blinded tractor driver for eloping with his wife nabbed

PATNA: A MOB OF AROUND 20 PEOPLE DRAGGED GAUTAM TO A SUV WHERE THEY THRASHED HIM BEFORE INJECTING ACID INTO HIS EYES

Bihar’s Begusarai police late Saturday night arrested Dayaram Singh, the main accused behind injecting acid in the eyes of a tractor driver, Gautam Kumar, who had eloped with his wife early this month. Gautam served the Singh family as their tractor driver and fell in love with his wife for which he paid a heavy price.

A mob of around 20 people Friday late night accosted Gautam while he was on way to a police station, dragged him in a SUV where they brutally thrashed him before they blinded him by injecting acid into his eyes.

Teghra police station SHO, RS Paswan said following Gautam’s statement recorded at a local private hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment, a police team led by Teghra SDPO B K Singh raided a house in Baruni area and arrested Dayaram Singh.

Singh, however, declined his involvement in the case. The police were interrogating him to ascertain involvement of other persons in the incident.

A case has been lodged with Teghra police station the basis of Gautam’s statement, the SHO said.

Paswan said, Gautam had eloped with Singh’s wife on February 6, infuriating the influential farmer’s family based at Teghra area. The agitated husband had lodged a case with the Teghra police station accusing, Gautam of abducting his wife. On February 16, both Gautam and the woman, mother of two children , deposed before the court where the woman confessed to having eloped out of her own wish and expressed her desire to return to her husband. The court allowed Singh to take his wife back home.

However, that did not satisfy his anger and he decided to teach his former tractor driver a bitter lesson for defaming him in the society. On Friday evening, he called up Gautam and asked him to go to Teghra police station where his wife was waiting for him. “She wants to stay with you. I have asked her to follow her desire,” he told Gautam.

Gautam didn’t have the faintest of idea that they had laid a trap to punish him. The SHO said, “As Gautam headed for the police station, Dayaram and his associates accosted him on the way, dragged him into a Scorpio where they assaulted him and injected acid into his eyes,” he said.

The Assam government is planning to construct a heliport near the Kaziranga National Park to attract more visitors, the Chief Minister’s Office said on Sunday.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal directed three of his cabinet ministers to scout for land to build the proposed heliport near the national park known for housing one-horned rhinos. A heliport is an area used for landing and take off of helicopters.

According to an official release from the Chief Minister’s Office, Sonowal directed forest and environment minister Pramila Rani Brahma to set up an international standard convention centre at Kaziranga at an early date. PTI

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