All three accused in connection with the murder of a forest guard in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district have been arrested, with the prime accused, the driver of a tractor-trolley carrying illegally mined sand, being nabbed from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Monday (April 13, 2026), police officers said.

Harkesh Gurjar, a forest guard, was allegedly run over by a tractor belonging to local sand mafia when a forest department team tried to stop it in the early hours of April 8.

Speaking to The Hindu, Morena Superintendent of Police (SP) Samir Sourabh said that Vinod Kori, the prime accused who was driving the tractor, was nabbed from Ahmedabad and has been brought to Morena. 

“We had sent teams to Delhi, Agra [Uttar Pradesh], nearby areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat based on intelligence gathered from his relatives and the other two accused,” he said, adding that Mr. Kori was produced before a local court and granted two days in police remand. 

Mr. Sourabh said that the other two accused — Sonu Chouhan and Pawan Tomar — were held from areas in the district on April 10 and 12, respectively.

“They are the owners of the tractor. They have been sent to judicial custody,” he added. 

Another police officer at Dimni Police Station said that two of the accused were linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

“While Pawan Tomar is the BJP vice-president of Ambah mandal unit, Sonu Chouhan is linked with the BJYM [Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha],” the officer said, requesting anonymity. 

The officer said that the official ownership of the tractor is in the name of a person based in Rajasthan’s Bundi district. 

“But when we got to him, he claimed that he had sold it to them [Mr. Chouhan and Mr. Tomar] through an agreement,” he added. 

Morena district BJP president Kamlesh Kushwaha said that the two were linked to the party and that notices have been issued to seek their stance. 

“The allegation is that they are the owners of the tractor but there are some claims that it is owned by someone in Rajasthan. Whatever the truth is, we have sought their response and if they are found involved in any illegal activity, they will be expelled from the party,” Mr. Kushwaha said, speaking to The Hindu. 

The prime accused’s arrest comes on a day when the Supreme Court slammed the governments Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan over the rampant illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary and nearby regions.