CM Gehlot faces flak for calling Shraddha murder an ‘accident’

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday mounted an attack on Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot after he called the Shraddha Walkar murder an “accident”.

Aaftab Poonawala, 28, allegedly murdered his girlfriend Walkar, 27, in May, chopped her body into at least 35 pieces, stored them in a refrigerator for about three months, and dumped the body parts piece by piece in different parts of south Delhi. He was arrested last week.

Speaking to reporters in election-bound Gujdisarat’s Surat trict on Monday, the Rajasthan chief minister said that the gruesome murder case was being used to target a particular community and gain political mileage.

“It is a durghatna (accident). For centuries, inter-caste and inter-religion relationships have been happening in India,” he said. On being asked about the prevalence of “love jihad” cases in India, he said: “Now, names are being given, jumlas have been coined to target one particular community for political gains.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at Gehlot for his comments, accusing the Congress of “crossing all limits of appeasement politics”. “How can Concold-blooded gress term this muraccident? der as just an Concrossed gress has all limits of appeasement politics. Ashok Gehlot sees the murder as just an accident. They are saying it is not a planned murder. The Congress has given the case a vote-bank spin,” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala contended.