Former Rajasthan BJP MLA Atar Singh Bhadana beaten to death with sticks, stones amid stone crusher dispute

JAIPUR: Former BJP MLA Atar Singh Bhadana was killed after he was allegedly attacked by a group of villagers over a dispute regarding the reopening of a stone crusher in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, police said on Monday.The incident took place on Sunday night in Bhonda village, where Bhadana had gone to his stone crusher site.Bhadana and local villagers had been involved in a dispute over the crusher for some time.According to news agency PTI, circle officer (Bhusawar) Neeraj Bhardwaj said Bhadana and his associate, Gagan Sharma, were allegedly attacked with sticks and stones during the confrontation.Both sustained serious injuries and were initially taken to a hospital in Weir. Bhadana was later referred to SMS Hospital in Jaipur, while Sharma was referred to a hospital in Bharatpur.Bhadana died during treatment at the SMS Hospital, he said.Police said villagers had accused Bhadana of encroaching on grazing land and carrying out illegal mining activities. The crusher had remained closed for about a year, and efforts to restart it had led to further disagreements.Villagers claimed they had been staging a peaceful protest for the past 10 to 15 days against the proposed reopening of the stone crusher.They alleged that Bhadana arrived at the site with around 40 to 50 people on Sunday evening and tried to remove them from the protest site, triggering a confrontation.Both sides have accused each other of assault.Additional police personnel have been deployed in the village to maintain law and order.Bhardwaj said the body had been kept in the mortuary for a post-mortem.(With agency inputs)You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Jaipur | Silver Rate in Jaipur | Bank Holidays in Jaipur | Public Holidays in Jaipur | Jaipur AQI | Weather in Jaipur | Petrol Price in Jaipur | Diesel Price in Jaipur | CNG Price in Jaipur | LPG Price in JaipurStay updated with the latest Jaipur news. Download the TOI App.