Madhya Pradesh: Burnt Man Claims Police Set Him on Fire; Bribery Scandal Unveiled

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): A 42-year-old painter named Asif, was found severely burnt on a street in Indore. Still alive, he screamed for help, claiming that the police had set him on fire. Promptly, passersby arranged for an ambulance to rush him to the hospital.

After 12 hours of treatment at the local hospital, Asif was transferred to Mayo Hospital in Indore, where he died.

The identity of the burning man was initially unknown to the authorities, but it was later discovered that he was Asif, a person of interest for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Just two days prior, the ACB had arrested constable Ravi Kushwaha from the Ujjain police on charges of accepting a bribe of ₹25,000.

As per Dainik Bhaskar, Kushwaha was about to receive the bribe money, the ACB conducted a surprise raid. Panicked, Kushwaha handed the money to an unidentified person present in the room and swiftly fled. However, as Kushwaha failed to produce the bribe amount, the ACB reviewed the CCTV footage, which captured the individual leaving the room after receiving the money.

The person in the footage was identified as Asif. Suspecting Asif of being involved in the bribery case, the ACB raided his residence in Gandhi Nagar police and found him missing.

On April 5th, a complaint was filed by Sanjay alias Narendra Suryavanshi, a resident of Koila Phatak, and his friend Mukesh, also known as Mukul Dhanwani from Avantipura. They lodged a complaint with SP Anil Vishwakarma of the ACB, alleging that Constable Ravi Kushwaha stationed at the Chimanganj police station was pressurizing Sanjay to pay a bribe of 1.5 million rupees.

This entire story is a cocktail of bribery, corruption, middlemen, and police involvement. Asif had connections within the police force, and he was known to carry out certain tasks for them. Furthermore, he had the police beat chart displayed outside his house.

Asif's mother also mentioned that he had been absent from home for the past two days. During his absence, an individual had come to their house and offered money, but they refused to accept it.

The CCTV footage from the Chimanganj police station clearly shows Ravi entering the premises after collecting the bribe amount. Both of them then enter a room within the police station, and the door is closed behind them. Within a minute, Asif is seen leaving the room in a hurry. This increased the suspicion of the ACB team, suggesting that Ravi had indeed handed over the ₹25,000 to Asif.

Basant Srivastava, who is currently leading the investigation at the ACB, mentioned that Ravi had not cooperated during their initial inquiry. Consequently, he was arrested and sent to jail.