A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, his son and five others were arrested in connection with the murder of a party member in Barwani district, 313 kms of Bhopal, police said Thursday.

Manoj Thackeray, 42, mandal [zonal] president of the BJP, was allegedly murdered and his body was found in a field in his home town Balwadi on January 20.

According to the police, there were 10 people involved in the crime including Tarachand Rathore, a state BJP executive committee member, and his son Digvijaya Singh Rathore. While seven of them have been arrested, three are on the run.

Barwani SP Yangchen Dolkar Bhutia said, “Tarachand Rathore and his son Digvijay had threatened Manoj Thackeray of dire consequences because of a political rivalry. Rathore gave the contract to one Anil Singh and paid him Rs 500,000 to kill Thackeray.”

“On January 20, Anil Singh with seven others killed him Thakre a stone,” Bhutia added.

State public relation department minister P C Sharma said, “After losing the election, BJP leaders are fighting with one another.” However, BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “A criminal is a criminal irrespective of his affiliation with any party but there should be an impartial investigation into the murders.”

First Published: Jan 31, 2019 23:03 IST