CBI takes over probe into Khairlanji's dalits killing

Nagpur, Dec 1 (UNI) Two months after four members of a dalit family were killed in Khairlanji village in Bhandara district of Maharashtra, Central Bureau of Investigation today took over the case investigation even as police have arrested the village Sarpanch and his deputy named among the accused.

The killings led to a prolonged agitation by dalit organisations in various parts of the State. The agitation got fuelled over the past two days by reported desecration of the statue of dalits' icon Dr B R Ambedkar, resulting in large-scale violence which claimed four lives in the State. Coaches of two trains were burnt and hundreds of vehicles were damaged by mobs.

Khairlanji's Sarpanch Upasrao Khandate and his deputy Urkuda Khurpe were arrested in the village late last night by sleuths of the local unit of the State CID (Crime), a senior police official told UNI. They were among those named by Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the lone survivor in the family whose four members were killed by a mob on the night of September 30 over a land dispute.

The victims were Surekha Bhotmange (45), daughter Priyanka (18), and sons Roshan (23) and Suresh (21).

With the arrest of the Sarpanch and his deputy, altogether 47 people, including three women, have been arrested for the gruesome killings so far.

Meanwhile, a team of CBI from Chennai today formally took over the case investigation, Bhandara's acting Superintendent of Police Suresh Sagar told UNI over telephone.

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