Guna, Oct 27 : In a swift midnight post on X, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav broke the silence on a farmer's daylight murder in Guna, his words carrying the weight of both grief and command.

'I express my condolences to the family,' he wrote, before issuing an iron-clad directive: 'No culprit will be spared.'

Within hours, a case against 14 accused was filed, one arrest made, and the state's law-enforcement machinery jolted into high gear.

What began as a land dispute in Ganeshpura village had ended in a father's brutal death'and now, the Chief Minister had made it a test of governance.

Ankit Soni, superintendent of police (Guna), has said that the police have arrested an accused, Hukum Singh and have launched a manhunt for others, including Mahendra Nagar, Jitendra Nagar, Kanhaiyalal Nagar and others.

A long-simmering land dispute erupted into unimaginable brutality in Ganeshpura village under Fatehgarh police station limits, claiming the life of 40-year-old farmer Ramswaroop Dhakad and leaving his family shattered.

According to police, on Sunday afternoon, as Dhakad walked to his fields with his wife Vindo Bai, they were ambushed by a mob led by local BJP booth committee president Mahendra Nagar and his relatives, including his sons Nitesh and Devendra, wife Kamlesh Bai, nephew Jitendra, and around a dozen others, among them women.

Eyewitnesses recounted a scene of sheer savagery. The attackers, armed with sticks, rods, and guns, surrounded Dhakad and unleashed a frenzied assault, pummeling him until he collapsed with multiple fractures across his body.

In a final act of cruelty, Nagar allegedly drove a Thar jeep over Dhakad's limp form, crushing him fatally. When Vindo Bai and their two 17-year-old daughters, Tanisha and Krishna, rushed to intervene, the mob turned on them, slapping the women viciously, tearing the girls' clothes, and firing shots into the air to terrorise villagers from approaching.

Police accounts also reveal that Dhakad's maternal uncle, Rajendra Nagar, who joined the fray to help, was also beaten. For nearly an hour, the assailants held the village hostage at gunpoint, blocking locals from rushing Dhakad to a nearby health centre.

Only after persistent pleas did they relent, allowing the gravely injured family to be ferried to Guna District Hospital. Dhakad succumbed en route or upon arrival, his body riddled with trauma. However, SP Ankit Soni said, 'victim died during treatment.'

The survivors'Vindo Bai, Tanisha, Krishna, and Rajendra'remain under treatment for fractures, lacerations, and emotional scars, with the daughters particularly traumatised by the molestation.

The trigger was a festering feud over six bighas of farmland in neighbouring Pachlavara village, Baran district of Rajasthan, owned by Dhakad's maternal uncle Pappu Nagar.

Nagar's relative Kanhaiya had been pressuring the family to relinquish it, but Dhakad's steadfast refusal'amid allegations of Nagar's years-long reign of intimidation'forces at least 25 small farmers to sell holdings at throwaway prices and flee Ganeshpura.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who also holds the home portfolio, condemned the "unfortunate" murder as a stain on the state's law and order.

"No one indulging in criminal acts will be spared," he asserted, directing police and district authorities to expedite the probe with utmost seriousness.

An FIR under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder, conspiracy, assault, and outraging women's modesty has been registered against 14 named accused, including the Nagars, and four unidentified persons.

Hukum Singh, Mahendra's elder brother, was arrested late Sunday, while the seized Thar jeep yielded bloodstains linking it to the crime. Raids continue for the absconders, with Sub-Divisional Police Officer Vivek Asthana vowing forensic sweeps and witness protection.

The BJP district unit, acknowledging Mahendra Nagar's role as a former Kisan Morcha office-bearer who defected from Congress in 2020, has urged his immediate expulsion.

State BJP chief Hemant Khandelwal echoed the CM, stating, "Our government will punish every criminal, regardless of affiliation." Yet, the opposition Congress, led by Bamori MLA Rishi Agrawal, decried the incident as a "Lakhimpur Kheri rerun," accusing the ruling party of shielding land mafia and fostering impunity.

"Violence, looting, and assaults are rampant under this regime," Agrawal charged, demanding a high-level judicial inquiry and Scindia's intervention, given Guna's status in his Lok Sabha turf.

Villagers, living in fear of reprisals, whispered of Nagar's unchecked dominance, where defiance meant ruin.

As Dhakad's body was cremated amid wails, his daughters' tearful accounts'"They sat on me, tore my cloths, and fired at us"'amplified calls for justice.

/IANS