Balod: Senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh minister Mohammad Akbar and three others were booked for alleged abetment of suicide of a government school teacher in Balod district, a police official said on Monday.
Akbar, Madaar Khan alias Saleem Khan, Harendra Netam and Pradip Thakur were booked on Sunday under section 108 (abetment of suicide) and 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Dondi police station based on a suicide note purportedly left by teacher Devendra Thakur, said Balod Additional Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Joshi.
Akbar has denied the allegations and said he was being implicated.
"On September 3, Thakur, who was posted at the government primary school in Odgaon, was found hanging at his house in Ghotiya. A suicide note recovered from his pocket named former minister Akbar, Khan, Netam and Pradip Thakur as those responsible for the act. As per the note, the four allegedly took money but did not provide the promised job nor did they refund the amount," he said.
Another official said Madar Khan alias Saleem Khan, Harendra Netam and Pradip Thakur were booked in a separate case on Sunday by Dondi police for allegedly duping people on the pretext of getting them jobs in the forest department during the previous Congress government.
They have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) based on the complaint of one Chandar Singh of Odgaon village, this official said.
"As per the complaint, in 2022 (when state was ruled by the Congress) an advertisement was released for recruitment of forest guard and other posts in the state's Forest Department. Singh has claimed he gave Rs 4.70 lakh to Netam, Khan and Pradeep Thakur through Devendra Thakur (teacher) for getting recruited as forest guard," he said.
Like Singh, about 70 others cumulatively gave Rs 3.70 crore to these persons for the job, the officer said quoting the complaint.
"Khan had introduced himself as a relative of Akbar, then forest minister in the Bhupesh Baghel government, to the aspirants. When aspirants did not get jobs, they sought their money back, but the three accused allegedly refused to return the money. Teacher Devendra Thakur apparently took the extreme step due to the same issue," he said.
Probe into the two cases is underway and no arrest has been in either of them, the official added.
When contacted, Akbar told PTI the case against him is false and fabricated, adding he was being implicated.
"I do not know three other accused and have no links with them," the former minister asserted.