Raipur ‘Blind Murder’ Solved: Victim Killed Over Minor Dispute; 3 Arrested

Chhattisgarh Police have solved a baffling "blind murder" in Raipur's Abhanpur area, arresting three men accused of brutally killing 26-year-old Sonu Pal in a petty altercation over a bidi that escalated into a fatal assault. The victim's body, discovered floating in a drain near Goda Pul on Friday morning, bore severe head and facial injuries from a blunt object, prompting an immediate high-stakes investigation under Sections 103 (murder) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Lal Umed Singh hailed the breakthrough as a testament to swift, technology-driven policing, emphasising how trivial disputes can turn deadly in alcohol-fuelled settings.

The case unfolded on Thursday night when Pal, a resident of Gatapara village in Abhanpur, was drinking outside a local liquor shop. According to police, the accused—Sumit Bande (26), Ajay Ratre (24), and Gulshan Gaikwad (26), all locals with no prior enmity toward Pal—were consuming alcohol nearby. When Pal requested a bidi from them and was refused, a verbal spat erupted. The trio allegedly lured him away under the pretence of offering drugs, leading him to the isolated drain site. There, they punched and kicked him, used a metallic bracelet as a weapon, and ultimately smashed his head with a stone, causing fatal injuries. The perpetrators then dumped the body and fled, only to be tracked down within 48 hours through relentless groundwork.

A specialised team, comprising Additional SP (Nava Raipur) Vivek Shukla, Additional SP (Crime) Sandeep Mittal, and DSP Sanjay Singh, spearheaded the probe under SSP Singh's directives. Investigators combed CCTV footage from the liquor shop and surrounding areas, canvassed residents for sightings, and employed technical surveillance to trace Pal's last movements. The victim's identity was confirmed via mobile records and family inputs, revealing he had left home around 8 PM Thursday without raising alarms. Interrogations led to the accused's confession, with Bande, Ratre, and Gaikwad admitting the sequence of events during custody. Recovered evidence, including the bloodied stone and bracelet, corroborated their statements, closing the loop on what initially appeared as a random killing.

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This incident underscores a disturbing trend in rural Chhattisgarh, where alcohol-related violence accounts for nearly 25% of homicides, per state crime data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2024 report. Abhanpur, a peri-urban tehsil with growing liquor outlets amid economic migration, has seen similar flare-ups, prompting calls for stricter enforcement of the state's excise laws and community awareness drives. SSP Singh described the motive as "shockingly petty—a fight over a bidi, yet it ended in cold-blooded violence," urging public vigilance against escalating minor quarrels.

The accused face life imprisonment if convicted, with the investigation ongoing to rule out accomplices. Pal's family, grieving the loss of their sole breadwinner, has been assured victim compensation under the Chhattisgarh Victim Compensation Scheme. As Raipur police celebrate this resolution, it serves as a grim reminder of the fragility of everyday interactions in vulnerable spaces.

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