On December 29, 2007, exactly 10 months before the blast, Joshi was shot dead by killers on two bikes while he was out on an evening stroll in Chuna Khadan, not far from the one-room dwelling in Dewas where he stayed with four other men.
Joshi, in his late 30s at the time of his death, had been an RSS pracharak in Mhow till 2003. That year, he was accused in the murders of tribal Congress leader Pyar Singh Ninama and his son. Ninama had cut off Joshi’s locks in public, and the murders were allegedly committed to avenge the ‘humiliation’. Twelve others were accused in the case. Joshi disappeared, and had been on the run.
Joshi’s four roommates disappeared the day he was murdered. Dewas Police have since named them—Mohan, Ghanshyam, Rajsingh and Mani alias Ustad—and said they are suspects in Joshi’s murder. They believe the names could be fake. Investigations have not progressed further.
A police sub-inspector at Dewas told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity that a man called Ramnarayan had been the first to reach Joshi’s body after he was shot. This man, who lived nearby, is believed to have taken away the mobile phone that Joshi was using. The man has disappeared since. It is not known if this ‘Ramnarayan’ is same as the Ramnarayan Kalsangra that the Maharashtra ATS is looking for in connection with the Malegaon blast.
The police have made no attempt to trace Joshi’s cell phone, track the number, or check his call details. Off the record, officials said that there had been pressure “right from the top” to go slow in the matter.
Joshi was living incognito in Dewas, hiding behind a long beard, which was probably also the reason people called him ‘Guruji’. Neighbours thought he was a religious preacher, and referred to his humble dwelling as ‘ashram’. Joshi spoke with almost no one. Almost no one visited him. Sadhvi Pragya was an occasional visitor.
The so-called ‘ashram’, with a plastic sheet as its roof and a tree in front, is at one end of a long, narrow lane connecting the slum to the highway. “He would pace the backyard and emerge in the evening to buy milk,” his landlady said.
Dewas SP Dr Mayank Jain, who took charge four months ago, said: “We are clueless about the murderers or the motive.” He said police realised Joshi and his roommates were absconding accused from the 2003 Mhow double murder case only after Joshi was killed in 2007.
Joshi’s brother Anil is a peon in the state education department, and lives in Vikasnagar with his wife and three daughters. Anil Joshi’s wife said Joshi visited the family frequently, but “he would hardly speak to me or other family members”. She said she had no idea about his activities, either in Mhow or in Dewas. According to Anil’s family, Joshi moved to Dewas to be close to them. The brothers’ father, also an employee of the education department, had died of cancer a few years ago. Their mother died five months after Joshi was murdered. Anil’s family said Joshi had visited them the day before he was killed.
A day after Joshi’s murder, the local RSS called a bandh. Hindu organisations blamed the murder on SIMI, and a Muslim youth, Abdul Rashid, was killed in Sutarkheda village, about 30 kms from Dewas. Jain said four people affiliated with Hindu organisations had been arrested in connection with Abdul Rashid’s murder.