Overview

• Khairagarh district police confirmed the arrests of land dealer Imran Memon and associate Prakash and said both were remanded to judicial custody.
• Investigators reported that Memon confessed to planning the removal and that Prakash cut the tree with a machine on government land long used for local devotion.
• A case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 298 for hurting religious sentiments and Section 238 for mischief, with additional charges under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
• Police say the suspects tried to destroy evidence by throwing the cutting machine into a river; divers are searching and a scooter linked to the case has been seized.
• Villagers replanted a Peepal sapling at the site, and the elderly woman who had cared for the original tree offered prayers at the new planting.