Excise officer stabbed to death in front of family in Udaipur

UDAIPUR: A senior officer of the state excise department, Yashwant Sharma, 55, was stabbed to death by four unidentified men in a private car at dawn on Thursday in the presence of his daughter and granddaughter. The injured victim, his daughter and his five-year-old grandchild were thrown out of the car at a secluded place after which the assailants fled with his daughter’s belongings. Police have sealed the area and launched a manhunt for the culprits.


“We have no clue about the assailants so far. CCTV footage has been sought and a special team as well as the entire police force of the city has been deployed to catch the murderers,” DySP Bhagwat Singh Hingar told TOI.

He was at the bus stand around 4 am with his daughter Neha and her infant daughter after returning from Ahmedabad where they had gone for Neha’s check-up following a recent accident. Neha, 32, is married and settled in Jabalpur but had come to her parents’ home for treatment. Unable to find an autorickshaw the trio began to walk towards Sharma’s Sector 3 home in Hiran Magri, when a car offered them a ride.

“Neha told us that her father was reluctant to sit in the car as four men were already seated inside but since Neha wasn’t well enough to walk, he accepted the ride and the trio got in. The car driver said he would charge Rs 100, which Sharma agreed to,” Hingad said. He quoted Neha as saying that the men were headed in a different direction but agreed to take the family to their destination for a higher rate.

Passers-by spotted and came to their rescue

All of a sudden the car took a wrong turn which Sharma immediately objected to. However the men became abusive and when Sharma protested, one of them took out a knife and stabbed him repeatedly. Neha and her daughter began screaming but since the area was isolated their cries went unheard. The men snatched Neha’s purse and mobile phone before pushing them out of the car and drove away.

While Sharma lay bleeding, Neha cried for help until passers-by spotted them and came to their rescue. Additional SP (city) Harsh Ratnu and police teams rushed to the spot and took the victims to the hospital where Sharma was declared dead.

“The official had sustained multiple injuries. Prima facie it appears to be a case of abduction. We have spoken to the victim’s family members who said that Sharma didn’t have a rivalry with anybody,” the police officer said.

An FIR for abduction, robbery and murder has been filed and an investigation is underway. Police suspect robbery to be the motive for the murder but all angles are being probed.