SIT declares Rs 30K reward for info on missing MP farmer
bhopal: In a susceptible case, a Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed after the Supreme Court’s directives, announced a reward of Rs 30,000 for information on the disappearance of a farmer in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar.
Maan Singh Patel has been missing since 2016 in a land dispute and his family have levelled allegations against MP minister Govind Singh Rajput, who holds the Food and Civil Supplies portfolio in the state government.
The SIT Sagar MP Police has shared a poster “search for missing person on its social media platforms, claiming Maan Singh Patel, crime No. 203/2024 Section 365 IPC, has been informed missing since August 22, 2016, who has been searched intensively. Upon informing about the missing person, a reward of Rs 30,000 has been declared. The informer’s identity will be kept secret,” the post stated.
If the general public has any information regarding the person, they can give information through correspondence, mobile No. 7587635602 and SIT’s social media accounts, the poster read.
While disposing of a writ petition (criminal) of Habeas Corpus filed by OBC Mahasabha, the Apex Court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) of Madhya Pradesh to constitute the SIT to probe into the missing person and complete it within four months and register an FIR initially against unknown persons.
The FIR was registered at the Civil Lines police station Sagar on August 23, and in the contents portion of the FIR, the name of Rajput has been mentioned. The complainant Sitaram Patel, the son of the missing farmer, had submitted a written letter in the police complaint on August 26, 2016.
Notably, the DGP had constituted the SIT on August 21, 2024, but the officer-in-charge (OIC) in the case on behalf of the state, Additional SP Sagar Lokesh Kumar Sinha submitted an application in the Supreme Court on September 4, 2024, to clarify the condition of the order to the extent that an officer designated as the Superintendent of Police can be appointed instead of Senior Superintendent of Police, for, the state has no any SSP as per the directions.
The DGP appointed Inspector General of Police, Bhopal (rural) Abhay Singh as head of the team while members Sehore Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi and Assistant IG of Police Anurag Sujaniya.
“The application, which has been filed by the state before the court is an attempt to delay the probe and the FIR has not been registered as per the complaint submitted by the missing person’s son,” Dharmendra Kushwaha, the petitioner who is the core member of the national body of OBC
Mahasabha told Millennium Post while raising questions over functioning of the SIT. “We will appear in this regard in the hearing scheduled on September 27,” Kushwaha said.
