Retired IAS officer's murder in Bhopal triggers political row over MP law and order

Bhopal: The murder of a retired IAS officer at his home in Bhopal on Wednesday gave the Opposition Congress fresh ammunition to target the Madhya Pradesh government over law and order, with party leaders questioning how a senior retired bureaucrat could be killed inside his residence in the state capital.

Retired IAS officer Rakesh Agrawal was allegedly found with his throat slit at his residence behind Panghat Colony in Suraj Nagar under Ratibad police station limits. The killing came as a major political issue for the Congress, which accused the BJP government of failing to ensure the safety of people in Bhopal.

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said Agrawal was murdered “right under the government's nose”, and attacked Chief Minister Mohan Yadav over the functioning of the government and its law-and-order machinery.

“If, even after achieving the distinction of being the country's ‘most unsuccessful Home Minister’, there is no improvement in the ruling establishment, the system, or the government, then your entire apparatus has become ‘abject and shameless’,” Patwari said in a post on X.

He said the public would teach the government a lesson and remove it from power.

Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Umang Singhar, said the murder had exposed the law-and-order situation in the state. “Criminals have become emboldened under the BJP government, and even people in the state capital Bhopal are not safe. Under Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, the law-and-order situation has completely gone off track,” Singhar said.

“When a retired IAS officer is not safe inside his own home in the state capital, who will take responsibility for the safety of the common people?” he asked.

Singhar alleged that Mohan Yadav could not escape responsibility by leaving the state “at the mercy of criminals”.

The political attack came as police launched an investigation into the killing. Several senior police officers visited Agrawal's residence and examined the scene.

The investigation has so far focused on a caretaker, identified as Varun Kumar, who was hired through an agency three days ago as a 24-hour caretaker-cum-male nurse. He has been missing since the incident, and police suspect he may have fled. His belongings, except for a pair of clothes, were reportedly missing from the residence.

According to preliminary information, Agrawal and his wife slept in separate rooms. Around 4 a.m., his wife woke up and found the door of her room latched from the outside. She called another caretaker, Amar, who opened the door. They then checked Agrawal's room and found that its door was also latched from the outside. Agrawal was later found dead inside with his throat allegedly slit.

ACP Zone-1 Ankita Khatarkar, speaking to IANS, said the Ratibad police received information at around 5.30 a.m. about the murder. “Following this, the local police team and senior officers inspected the scene of the incident. Prima facie, it has emerged that a caretaker was hired through an agency three days ago and has been absconding since the incident,” she said.

Khatarkar said the weapon allegedly used in the murder had not been recovered.

“The weapon used in the murder has not yet been recovered. Further investigation is underway, and efforts are being made to trace the missing caretaker,” she said.

Police are now trying to trace the missing caretaker, establish the motive and piece together the sequence of events leading to the killing.

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