Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma claimed those arrested were close to the BJP. (File)
Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Monday demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder and burial of five members of a tribal family in Nemawar town here.
The bodies of Mamata Balai (45). her daughters Rupali (21) and Divya (14) as well as relatives Puja (15) and Pawan (14), missing since May 13, were found buried 10 feet deep in an agricultural field on June 29, Dewas Superintendent of Police Shivdayal Singh said, adding that seven people had been arrested so far in connection with the crime.
Mr Nath, along with party colleagues Arun Yadav, Kantilal Bhuria, Sajjan Singh Verma, Jitu Patwari and Nakul Nath, on Monday met the family of the dead and announced financial help of Rs 25 lakh on behalf of his party.
"Today, I met the victim's family and this brutal murder has pained me a lot. The family members are still in fear and there was dilly-dallying in filing their report. Efforts were made to hide the incident and the accused were roaming without any fear and misleading the police. The matter should be probed by the CBI," he told reporters after meeting the family of the victims.
As per the police, their probe zeroed in on one Surendra Rajput, who confessed that he and one of the dead, Rupali, were in a relationship and his marrying another girl had angered her.
Rajput has told police that he got angry after Rupali wrote a post containing wrong information about the girl he was about to marry, and gathered his brother Virendra and friends Vivek Tiwari, Rajkumar, Manoj Korku and Karan Korku and killed the five and buried them in a field, the SP said.
"Their bodies have been found in the spot which was revealed to us by Rajput during questioning. Brothers Surendra and Virendra, as well as Vivek Tiwari, Rajkumar, Manoj Korku and Karan Korku, along with one Rakesh Nimore, to whom the accused had given Rupali's mobile phone, have been arrested," the official added.
Congress leader and former minister Sajjan Singh Verma claimed those arrested were close to the BJP, adding that the incident took place near Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's constituency, which just showed the poor state of law and order in MP.
However, state BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said the main accused as well as co-accused were associated with the Congress, adding that the opposition party's plan to make it a "tribal versus upper caste" issue would not materialise as two of those arrested were tribals.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)