A father's decision to stop his daughter from talking to a young man in Chhattisgarh's Balod district nearly cost him his life. Gaukaran Sahu, a resident of Sambalpur village under Devri police station, was attacked in his sleep at around 2 am on the night of June 30, and investigators say the assault was rooted in his attempt to end his daughter's growing closeness with a young man.
A friendship the father wanted stopped
Gaukaran Sahu's daughter had been in touch with a young man named Bhanupratap Jain. Once Gaukaran learned of it, he counselled Bhanupratap directly and asked him to stay away from his daughter. He did not stop there, he also spoke to Bhanupratap's parents about the matter. Following this, Bhanupratap was sent to live at his grandparents' house for some time, a move that left him deeply resentful and, according to police, set him plotting revenge against Gaukaran.
Five friends roped in for the attack
Bhanupratap did not act alone. He brought in five friends and worked out a plan to kill Gaukaran Sahu. On the night of June 30, at around 2 am, while Gaukaran was fast asleep at home, the group entered and rained blows on his head. He was then beaten further with sticks and rods. Gaukaran's daughter was sleeping right beside him in the same room, and when she woke up and began screaming during the assault, the attackers panicked and fled the scene. Gaukaran was rushed to hospital soon after, where he remains under treatment, and his condition is currently described as stable.
Wife's complaint sets the investigation in motion
After the attack, Gaukaran's wife approached the Devri police station and filed a complaint stating that unidentified persons had assaulted her husband at night. Balod ASP Monika Thakur said that once the complaint came in, police deployed informers and gathered technical evidence to push the investigation forward. The probe eventually revealed that the attack traced back to the father's decision to stop the main accused, Bhanupratap, from speaking with his daughter, a decision that had angered Bhanupratap enough to plot the murder with his friends.
Six held and sent to jail
Police arrested Bhanupratap Jain, Neeraj Rastogi, Tushar Nirmalkar, Dinesh Dhimar and Kundan Yadav, all residents of Marauda village in Durg district, along with Deepesh Patel of Baherabhata village in Balod district. All six accused have been sent to judicial custody. Police are now working to establish exactly when the plan to attack Gaukaran was first hatched and whether anyone else was involved.
