How a Chhattisgarh village unearthed one man linked to eight mysterious deaths | Today’s news

A common pattern linked all the eight deaths that rocked Kharve village in Baloda Bazar district of Chhattisgarh. Each victim was said to have shared a drink with local grocery store owner Ramsahay Jaiswal, 46, shortly before collapsing. Investigators say Jaiswal laced bottles of locally brewed liquor with a potent rat poison called Suhaga, which killed the victims within minutes of consuming the liquor, according to a report in the Indian Express.

He was arrested on June 22 in connection with eight deaths that allegedly occurred between February and May.

According to the police, the death initially escaped suspicion because it appeared to be natural. No autopsies were performed, with doctors in several cases attributing the deaths to causes such as heart attacks. It was only after villagers noticed a disturbing pattern that investigators began treating the death as a suspected homicide.

Kharve, a village of about 1,000 people on the banks of the Mahanadi river, has witnessed eight unexplained deaths in just five months. Among the victims were Badri Patel, Buthalu Sahu, former sarpanch Chhaturam Sahu, Budhram Jaiswal, Vinod Sahu, Gajanan Manjhi, Chaituram Sahu and Mahetru. Most were in their 50s and were regular associates of Jaiswal, according to investigators.

Deaths in Chhattisgarh’s Kharve

The first death was reported on February 7 when 58-year-old Badri Patel returned home after drinking with Jaiswal. About two hours later, his daughter found him lying motionless on a cot in the yard. Doctors attributed the death to a heart attack.

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“My father and Ramsahay were childhood friends. My father used to keep money with Ramsahay for safekeeping and ask for it whenever he needed it. Even now I don’t know why he did that,” Patel’s son Vikram said.

In the following weeks, Buthalu Sahu, Chhaturam Sahu and Budhram Jaiswal also died under similar circumstances.

Harish, son of former sarpanch Chhaturam Sahu, said his father had returned to the village for Buthalu Sahu’s funeral and had met Jaiswal for a drink beforehand.

“He was not in the village and came back for the funeral of Buthal Sahu. He went for a drink with Ramsahay, then went to oversee the preparation of food for the funeral when he became ill. He was lying dead before we took him to the hospital,” he said.

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Suspicions deepened after the death of 38-year-old Vinod Sahu on March 31. Unlike the earlier victims, Vinod was relatively young and healthy. His family said he had gone to the Mahanadi for his usual morning bath before meeting Jaiswal for a drink. He died about 15 minutes after returning home, the report said.

According to a lawyer familiar with the case, Vinod told someone that morning that he had bought locally brewed liquor for Jaiswal and planned to drink with him.

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The succession of deaths unsettled the village. At first, the residents believed that they were witnessing a series of misfortunes rather than crimes.

“We felt that so many deaths in the village was a bad omen,” said former sarpanch Dilharan Jaiswal, noting, “In April, we consulted the baiga (local priest) and gunia (traditional healer who also practices omen reading) in our village and performed poojas twice.”

Even after two more villagers died in late April, no one connected the deaths.

The turning point came after 40-year-old Mahetru died on May 14. According to his family, he met Jaiswal before going to the river to bathe, where he collapsed shortly afterwards.

While the villagers were discussing the latest death under the village peephole, another incident occurred. Twenty-three-year-old daily punter Kartik Kumhar said he survived after consuming alcohol that Jaiswal allegedly gave to a friend.

“I came home in the middle of the day and asked my friend Pramod Sahu if he had any alcohol. He said he had half a bottle of liquor given to him by Ramsahay. I drank it and within 20 seconds I vomited and passed out, I regained consciousness only after 5-6 hours,” said Kumhar.

Alarmed by the account, the villagers approached the police on June 6 and named Jaiswal in their complaint. Eight FIRs were subsequently registered before his arrest later that month.

About Ramsahay Jaiswal

Residents reportedly described Jaiswal as a gregarious and religious man who ran the village’s first grocery store for a long time. He dropped out of the 7th grade, belonged to a respectable farming family, and built two small temples about 15 years ago.

“Our father died when Ramsahay was a child and our mother five years ago. He was always helpful and no one ever said no to him. Fifteen years ago he built two small temples in the village. We are all in shock. We kept asking him to tell us the truth but he still maintained his innocence,” said his brother Shivcharan.

What did the police say?

Police say Jaiswal offered bottles of a local liquor known as Goa to victims, sometimes for free, after mixing them with rat poison.

“We have strong circumstantial evidence in the case. We are also relying on forensic evidence. After the bodies of the seven victims were exhumed, samples were taken by forensic experts and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to find out if there are traces of Suhaga,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Kaushal Wasnik.

Investigators say the alleged motives ranged from personal grudges and land disputes to suspicions of occult practices and unpaid loans.

“After questioning, we found that the accused had a grudge over petty things,” said one of the police officers. “He also believes that he did a lot for the village but never got the respect he deserved.

After the arrest, Jaiswal’s family left the village. Life in Kharva gradually returned to normal and the residents once again gathered under the tree where his grocery store had once been open. However, the memory of death remains fresh.