Khargone (MP): A 30-year-old man who went missing during communal clashes in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone city on Ram Navami has become the first fatality of the violence but his death has raised allegations of a cover-up with his kin on Monday accusing the police of keeping his death under wraps for eight days. The body of Ibresh Khan was kept at a government hospital in Indore, around 100km from here, for eight days after it was found in Khargone's Anand Nagar area as freezer facility was not available in the riot-hit city, police said.
The state government, however, has claimed a case of murder was registered on April 11 itself, a day after the riots broke out in Khargone during Ram Navami celebrations, following a postmortem on the body.
A police officer said that Ibresh Khan died due to serious injuries to his head caused by stones. Communal clashes had broken out in Khargone city on April 10 during a Ram Navami procession, leading to arson and stone-pelting, and imposition of a curfew. Superintendent of Police Siddharth Choudhary had received a bullet injury during the violence.
"An unidentified body was found in the night of communal violence in the Anand Nagar area of Khargone," In-charge Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohit Kashwani told reporters. He said since there was no freezer facility available in Khargone, the body was kept at the Indore government hospital after a postmortem. Kashwani said the family members of Ibresh Khan registered a missing person complaint on April 14.
"Ibresh Khan's body was handed over to his family members on Sunday after they identified him", he said, adding further investigation was underway.