RSS activist Himmat Patidar from Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district allegedly faked his own death to claim the insurance money totaling Rs. 20 lakh to repay his debt. In an attempt to mislead the police, Patidar murdered a farm labourer and burned the victim’s face to conceal his identity and pass it off as his own murder.

The body with the burnt face, initially believed to be Patidar’s, was identified as that of Madan Malviya’s following DNA tests. Police started suspecting something was astray when they found shoes and trousers belonging to Malviya, lying in a nearby field, and they also found a mobile handset with the body but found that all call-related data was deleted. Malviya’s family members confirmed that the underwear found on the body was his but not the other clothes. Following this, DNA samples were taken from Malviya’s parents and matched with that of the victim’s body. The senior police officer added that after committing the crime, Patidar planted his own belongings next to the victim’s to make it appear that it was his body. “Patidar had got himself insured through the State Bank of India for Rs 20 lakh sometime back, and made his wife his nominee. He had taken some loan. He was also into money lending,” an official said, suggesting that he might have committed the crime to claim the insurance money to repay his debt.

Investigation of the case is happening from all angles as even Patidar’s father is a suspect. The RSS activist is currently absconding. Further details will reportedly be revealed once the accused is captured.