Police confirm first death of communal violence in M.P’s Khargone after man’s body found in Indore hospital

A police officer said that the man died due to serious injuries to his head caused by stones.

A 30-year-old man who went missing during communal clashes in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone city has become the first fatality of violence, but his death has raised allegations of cover-up, with the kin of the deceased accusing the police of keeping his death under wraps for eight days.

The body of Ibresh Khan was kept at a government hospital in Indore for eight days after it was found in Khargone's Anand Nagar area as the freezer facility was not available in Khargone, police said on Monday.

A police officer said that Ibresh died due to serious injuries to his head caused by stones.

Communal clashes had broken out in Khargone city on April 10 during a Ram Navami procession, leading to arson and stone-pelting, leading to the clamping of curfew. Superintendent of Police Siddharth Choudhary had received a bullet injury during the violence.

"An unidentified body was found the next day (April 11) of communal violence in the Anand Nagar area of Khargone," In-charge Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohit Kashwani told reporters.

He said since there was no freezer facility available in Khargone, the body was kept at the Indore government hospital after postmortem.

Mr. Kashwani said the family members of Ibresh registered a missing person complaint on April 14.