On Tuesday, police said that in a twist to the murder of RSS worker Himmat Patidar in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district, it has turned that the victim was not Patidar but instead the prime suspect Madan Malviya.
A desire to claim Rs 20 lakh life insurance that Patidar had taken out in his own name in December 2017 appears to be main motive behind the murder, informed the police.
Patidar who is the prime suspect in the murder is absconding. A reward of Rs 10,000 had been announced for information about him.
According to the police, a body with its face burnt, was found on January 23 near Patidar's field in Kamed village of Ratlam and his motorcycle was found parked nearby. Patidar had left the house on January 22 night to start the pump for watering his fields and had not returned home, police said citing the family members.
Police said that Patidar's father had identified the body which was then handed over to the family who then cremated him. The family members of the main suspect named Malviya did not protest.
However the police suspected something fishy when they found shoes and trousers belonging to Malviya lying in a nearby field and some other small clues that came up during the investigation. "We suspect that Patidar had chosen to kill Malviya as both of them were of the same height and built. He knew Malviya well as the latter used to work in his fields two years back. To confuse the police, Patidar first tried to sever Malviya's head but when he couldn't he had burnt Malviya's face and had planted,Adhar card, ATM, a pocket diary etc. near Malviya's body",he added.