Madhya Pradesh: SIT formed to probe 2016 missing case of OBC leader

A special investigation team (SIT) was formed by the Madhya Pradesh police on Thursday to probe the missing case of Sagar’s OBC leader Man Singh Patel on the orders of Supreme Court.
The SIT team will give the report within four months.
Bhopal inspector general of police (rural) (IGP) Abhay Singh has been appointed as head while Sehore superintendent of police (SP) Mayank Awasthi and assistant inspector general of police (IGP), police head quarter Anurag Sujaniya as members.
Also Read:7-year-old boy goes missing in Delhi, body found in open drain hours later
In an order on August 6, the Supreme Court had asked director general of police (DGP) to form an SIT into the eight-year-old case involving the mysterious disappearance of Patel who alleged harm from a sitting minister in Madhya Pradesh over a property dispute.
The court directed a high-ranking police team to thoroughly investigate the allegations and report the whereabouts of the person within four months.
The court pulled up the Madhya Pradesh Police’s handling of the 2016 case as only a missing report was initially registered, with a first information report (FIR) filed in 2023.
The state police then formed a SIT comprising constables and assistant sub-inspectors, which failed to make any progress, terming the probe as an eyewash.
The order came in response to a petition filed by OBC Mahasabha who suspected involvement of sitting minister and his associates in the alleged disappearance.
The son of missing leader Patel, Sitaram Patel said, “My father Man Singh Patel went missing in 2016 after he filed a complaint against the leader regarding illegal encroachment and construction of a college by him and his associates on his ancestral land in Sagar district.”