Bemetara, February 17 A court in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday acquitted 17 people accused of murdering a man and his son following communal clashes in April 2023.
Manoj Namdeo, a defense lawyer, said Additional Sessions Judge Sakshee Dixit delivered the verdict after examining 64 witnesses.
The court gave the accused the benefit of the doubt, he added.
Dakeshwar Sinha alias Hariom (28), Manish Verma (23), Samaru Netam (43), Puran Patel (19), Rajkumar Nishad (19), Bhola Nishad (23), Dudhnath Sahu (27), Arun Rajak (18), Chandan Sahu (20), Homendra Netam (25), Takendra Sahu (22), Ram Nishad (19), Ajay Kumar Sahu (25), Chintaram Sahu (68), Lokesh Sahu (23), Varun Sahu (18) and Rajesh Sahu (23) were acquitted.
Violence broke out at Biranpur village in the Bemetara district on April 8, 2023, following a purported altercation between schoolchildren from different communities.
During the violence, 22-year-old Bhuneshwar Sahu was murdered. Some police officers were also injured during the clash.
Subsequently, the bodies of Rahim Mohammad (55) and his son Idul Mohammad (35), residents of the same village, were recovered on April 11. Both had been hit with stones and sticks.
During the investigation, police arrested 17 accused. The case related to Bhuneshwar Sahu's murder was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2024, and it is being heard in the CBI court in Raipur.
The BJP had accused the then Congress government of appeasement politics and fielded Bhuneshwar Sahu's father, Ishwar Sahu, from the Saja seat in the assembly elections. Sahu defeated the then minister and Congress leader Ravindra Choubey.