Municipal authorities on January 25 demolished a shop belonging to a main accused of murdering a cow shelter worker in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district.
The shop owner, Ayaj Khan — along with five others, including a minor — was held on January 21 for allegedly murdering Sadhram Yadav, a gau sevak (cow shelter worker), on January 20. Mr. Khan has been named as the main accused in the case. The motive is yet to be ascertained, the police said.
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Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said that a shop had been illegally constructed in the front portion of Mr. Khan’s house without getting the necessary permissions from the civic body to use the residential premises for commercial purposes.
‘Bulldozer action’
Kawardha municipal council officials reached his house along with police personnel on Thursday morning and demolished the illegal construction and encroachment using a bulldozer.
While Mr. Khan has previously been involved in nine criminal cases, it was a 2021 flag removal case that had stirred up communal clashes in the district. Police said that the details were being gathered of construction work carried out by the other accused in order to determine the future course of action.
This is one of the first instances of “bulldozer action” linked to an alleged criminal in the State since the new BJP Government came into power. In other BJP-ruled States — notably Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — there have been several cases in the past few years in which the properties of alleged criminals have been razed using bulldozers.
