Chudasama was a bright student with an iron will,recall friends

While Abhay,his youngest son,rose to become a senior cop,the eldest,Pratapsinh,has settled in Canada. His middle son Hemraj is an electrical inspector with the state government in Bhavnagar. But Devsang chose to remain at Ratanpar and devoted his life to educate children. Not even the death of wife Pemuben,15 years ago,deterred him. Meera Solanki,one of their daughters,is a teacher at nagarpalika-run Kirti School and another daughter,Siju,is a housewife living at Moti Dharayee village.

His friends recall Abhay as a bright student,with an iron will. He did his schooling from Gharshala School and went to Bhavnagar Science College to get a BSc degree. He fell in love with a Brahmin girl from Ankleshwar,whom he married 10 years back. His peers were hardly surprised when he stood second in the state in the 1991 GPSC examination. “Even in school he had earned a Rs 1,000-scholarship for five years from Class VIII. He made sure his parents did not have to pay for his studies,” said a school friend,who requested anonymity.

Another friend,who was his roommate at hostel in Bhavnagar,said: “Abhay also had an option to settle down in Canada with his elder brother. He had promised his brother that if he failed in the GPSC exam,he would shift there. But he cleared the exam.’’

Known as an ‘encounter specialist’,he had a mercurial progress and wielded great political clout from the time he joined the police department in 1999. The influence he wielded can be gauged from the fact that in a short span,he had not only got nominated to the IPS cadre but also always grabbed key postings — DySP in the ATS,SP in Valsad and DCP in Zone I and Crime Branch of Ahmedabad city. At the Crime Branch,where he is posted as DCP,the senior post of Joint Commissioner of Police has been left vacant for a significant time now,making him the de facto chief.

AK-47 rifle seized from Chudasama’s house
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the home and office of arrested DCP Abhay Chudasama for the second consecutive day on Friday and seized an AK-47 assault rifle from his home at Prahladnagar and a Mauser handgun from his office at Gaekwad Haveli,sources said. A senior officer confirmed the seizure of the weapons. “No police officer can own or keep an AK-47 at his home or office,except a commando or those in VVIP security. Even they also need to have some valid reason for the possession of such weapons,” said the officer. They added that the source or ownership of the weapons is yet to be ascertained.