Ater initial refusal, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the lone survivor in his family after the gruesome Khairlanji killings, has accepted the offer of a job from the government of Maharashtra.

Bhotmange submitted the relevant documents at the office of the District Social Welfare Officer on Monday, according to official sources.

Bhotmange had earlier refused the job offer, saying he did not want a job or rehabilitation, but justice. He had given his refusal in writing on the appointment letter itself when officials handed it over to him shortly after Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's visit to Khairlanji on Saturday.

Deshmukh had pleaded ignorance of the refusal, though. Apparently, Bhotmange has changed his mind now.

The government had appointed Bhotmange as a watchman at a government hostel for backward class boys in Tumsar in Bhandara district after a wave of protests over the Khairlanji killings.

The orders were issued on Friday, just a day before Deshmukh visited the village. The Social Justice Department approved the appointment as a special case.

Bhotmange's wife Surekha (44), daughter Priyanka (18), and sons Roshan (23) and Sudhir (21) were killed in mob frenzy in the village late on the night of September 30 over a land dispute.

Maharashtra Minister for Social Justice Chandrakant Handore had given an assurance to Bhotmange that he would be given a government job. Handore visited Khairlanji early last month.

The government has also announced an additional aid of Rs 2 lakh to Bhotmange besides the Rs 4.5 lakh already released under the provisions of the Atrocity Act.

The government has sanctioned another Rs 4.5 lakh for 3 acres of agricultural land, a plot and the construction of a house for Bhotmange.

CINS