Bhopal: Bhola Ahirwar (28), who had been absconding since Monday after allegedly opening fire on three members of a family — including a minor, who had accused him of rape — shot himself Tuesday morning, the Madhya Pradesh Police has said.
According to the police, Bhola Ahirwar wrote a social media post on Tuesday, addressing the police from his hideout. In the post, he pleaded innocence and revealed his location, asking officers to find him. However, later, when he realised the police were closing in on him, he allegedly took his life.
Speaking to The Print, a police officer said Bhola Ahirwar put up a Facebook post at roughly 9 am, denying that he raped the minor and complaining about a fake case against him.
“The entire village knows that the case is fake. It was only registered for the sake of money, and it was by taking money that POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) was invoked against me,” Bhola Ahirwar’s post said, accusing the police and village sarpanch for conspiring against him.
“SP sir can come and find me near Siddhi Baba road,” his post added.
According to the police, Bhola Ahirwal, after shooting the minor, her 65-year-old grandfather, and her 23-year-old uncle Monday, stole a bike and went on the run. The grandfather passed away later while the girl and her uncle have been recuperating.
Bhola Ahirwal allegedly spent Monday night in a temple over a hillock located roughly 30 minutes away from the district headquarters of Chhatarpur. The police, meanwhile, announced a reward of Rs 20,000 and formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to arrest him.
Speaking to The Print, DIG Chhatarpur Lalit Shakyawar said, “The police reached the spot in no time after the post was up. A search party team was already in the locality looking for him.”
The police reached the spot “with a view that Bhola wanted to surrender”. “But when the police reached and asked him to come down, he shot two rounds of fire. In retaliation, the police fired four rounds, and then Bhola shot himself with his weapon,” Shakyawar said.
He further said the police later found Bhola Ahirwar’s pockets full of bullets. “When the police asked him to come down, he threatened the police, warning them about going after him, saying he had enough ammunition with him,” the DIG said.
The DIG also denied the accusations of any wrongdoing on the part of the police in registering the POCSO case against Bhola Ahirwal. The police filed the case based on the victim’s statement recorded before a magistrate, he added.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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