CHANDIGARH: While the protests against death of a dalit boy in Gohana in Haryana continued on Friday in various towns of Haryana and Punjab, the Haryana Police claimed to have arrested three culprits who were involved in the murder of a Balmiki youth Rakesh alias Lara in Gohana late evening on Monday last.

While stating this, in a press conference at Sonipat,  the Superintendent  of Police, Sonipat, Navdeep Singh Virk said that these three included Sanjay, a resident of village Bhutana, Naresh
alias Neshi of village Busana and Dinesh of village Mudlana in Sonipat district.

He said that Dinesh alias Dinu of village Khanda, Sanjay  and Naresh alias Neshi conspired to eliminate Rakesh as they were of the view that  his death would benefit them immensely. They thought that after elimination of Rakesh alias Lara, who had been extorting lakhs of
rupees per month, they would start getting  this money.

He said that with a view to implement this plan, Naresh came out of jail on bail and Dinesh also got parole for four weeks on May 11, 2007. Dinesh was to return to jail on June 9, but he did not. He  and Naresh contacted Prahlad, a resident of village Chudani and they all three, under the direction of Dinesh alias Dinu, committed the crime. Dinesh, a resident of Mudlana was also found involved in the murder of Rakesh as he had given all his help to the other accused.  He said that the investigations conducted so far have revealed that the weapons for the murder were arranged by the gang leader  Dinesh alias Dinu.

All these three accused were produced in the court and sent on police remand  for interrogation. He said that all aspects of the case were being investigated. He said that police teams were on the search of two other accused wanted in the case and hoped that they too would be arrested soon. The Superintendent of Police said that all accused involved in the case have criminal background.
 
Meanwhile, the members of the family of Rakesh alias Lara, who was murdered, his relatives and local Balmiki leaders  have expressed satisfaction over the manner in which the government  handled the situation. They condemned all those who were trying to give caste colour to the entire issue. They have also expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister,  Bhupinder Singh
Hooda for agreeing to their demand to get the issue investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
 
he four prominent leaders of Balmiki community, who had called on Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Delhi  yesterday included Desh Raj Lohat,  Venod Kumar Prabhakar,  Ram Lal Gogi and Ramu Ram Pal.