BJP’s bulldozer on own leader in MP; Shivraj shows no mercy

Illegal hotel of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Mishri Chand Gupta has been razed by the district administration in Sagar.

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) | Updated: 04 January, 2023 1:58 pm IST

Before and after visuals of Hotel Jairam Palace in Makaronia intersection of Sagar

Continuing its crackdown against criminal elements, the Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday razed an illegally-built hotel owned by a BJP leader, who is wanted in a murder case in Sagar district.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mishri Chand Gupta is on the run since the last week of December, and the police have declared a reward of ₹1000 for information leading to his arrest.

He was suspended by the party after his name cropped up in a case related to the murder of a man named Jagdish Yadav on December 22, 2022.

On Tuesday, local authorities demolished Gupta’s Hotel Jairam Palace in a huge police deployment after evacuating people from nearby buildings.

As many as 60 dynamites were placed at different parts of the hotel building by an expert team from Indore. Within a few seconds, the building was reduced to rubble. The hotel was situated near Makaronia intersection in Sagar city.

Before the controlled blast, the electricity supply was stopped in the nearby areas and traffic movement was diverted at several places to ensure safe execution.

Sagar district collector Deepak Arya, deputy inspector general (DIG) Tarun Nayak and other senior officers were present during the demolition exercise.

“To ensure a safe execution, traffic was stopped by placing barricades around the intersection. People living in the buildings around the hotel were alerted. There has been no loss of any kind,” district collector Arya told media persons.

According to local media reports, an SUV car allegedly belonging to the BJP leader ran over Yadav, a resident of Koregaon, over some political enmity. He was suspended after CCTV footage of the crime surfaced on social media, irking local residents.

Eight people have been booked for murder by the police and five have been arrested. The remaining three, including Gupta, are still absconding.

Victim Jagdish Yadav is the nephew of independent councillor Kiran Yadav, who defeated BJP leader Gupta’s wife Meena by 83 votes in civic polls conducted in July last year.