2 yrs on, MP villagers wait for reward
BHOPAL:Hemraj If I get the reward (~40 lakh promised to five villagers) I will open a small shop and put my children in a better school HEMRAJ AHIRWAR, 40, a resident of Khejradev village and one of the five who had tipped off the police
Ahirwar, 40, has been impatiently waiting for about a month now for some information from his village’s sarpanch, Mohan Singh Meena, which, as he says, can bring a change in his life.
But the latter himself is clueless even as his attempts to meet Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to know the fate about the reward that he and Ahirwar, along with three others in their village Khejradev in Bhopal district, were promised two years ago, remain futile.
Both Meena and Ahirwar figure in the list of five people who had tipped off the police about the presence of eight undertrials in Bhopal central jail, believed to be SIMI operatives, who escaped on the night of October 30, 2016 after killing a guard while people were busy celebrating Diwali.
Based on the information provided by the villagers — besides the Sarpanch and Ahirwar, Padam Singh Meena, Gyan Singh and Vinod Meena — the police have gunned down the eight undertrials the following morning near Khejradev village, situated at the outskirts of Bhopal, within eight to nine hours of their escape from the jail, and a few hours after the police received the information.
The chief minister announced a reward of ~2 lakh each to the police personnel involved in the encounter, and ~40 lakh to the five villagers on Madhya Pradesh Foundation Day programme at Lal Parade ground in Bhopal on November 1, while making his much talked about ‘terrorists keep on eating chicken biryani in jails for years’ statement.
The reward could not be given immediately as the CM had to order a judicial probe into the jailbreak and the encounter in wake of the relatives of the deceased calling the encounter as “fake”.
Last year, the then principal secretary home KK Singh had said, “As per guidelines of the Supreme Court, if a judicial probe is ordered in any case, rewards and awards should be put on hold till completion of the inquiry.
“On the basis of the findings of the report, the reward will be given to the villagers and the police personnel.”
What gives hope to the villagers now that they would receive their reward, almost two years after the encounter, is that the state government had tabled the judicial commission report on the encounter in the state assembly during the monsoon session in the last week of June.
The commission in its report found the encounter “genuine”.
Hemraj Ahirwar said, “Agar inaam mil jaaye to mai koi chhoti si dukan khol lun aur apne bachchon ko kisi achchhe school me daal dun (If I get the reward I will open a small shop and put my children in a better school).”
Mohan Singh Meena said he had been trying to meet the chief minister to remind him of his promise for about a month now but he was yet to get an appointment from the CM’s office.
Principal secretary, home department, Malay Shrivastava said, “I will look into the matter.”
BJP state spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said when the chief minister has made the announcement, it would certainly be honoured. However, there was a process for every such matter in the government.