Gujarat AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava booked for rioting and assault on complaint of ‘childhood friend’

In his complaint, Shantilal said, “Chaitar Vasava is my childhood friend and I had joined Chaitar as an active political worker since 2015… During his candidature in the Bharuch Lok Sabha polls, he asked me to take care of the meals for the party workers during the campaign and the leaders and workers regularly ate at Shivam Park hotel as I made arrangements after speaking to the owners… Until March 2024, the total bill was about Rs 60,000, of which, Chaitar paid me Rs 30,000 in March and a second instalment of Rs 20,000 and told me to carry forward the balance until the end of the Lok Sabha polls.”

Shantilal further said the total outstanding dues amounted to about Rs 1.28 lakh at the end of the Lok Sabha polls, prompting the hotel’s owner to ask for the payment to be cleared. “When I tried to contact Chaitar Vasava, he stopped answering my calls. Finally, when I managed to speak to him about it, he lost his cool and told me that he owed no money towards the hotel bills… On September 16, Chaitar, accompanied by the other accused, arrived at my residence and assaulted me, abused me and threatened to kill me…” he said.

In a statement on Sunday, Chaitar said that Shantilal had been blackmailing him despite confirmation from the hotel owner that the bills had been cleared. Sharing screenshots of online payments made towards the hotel bills by his aides, Chaitar said, “On September 16, Shantilal abused me in an inebriated state. I have the video proof of the same and I will present it before the police. Shantilal is trying to blackmail me despite the bills being cleared by my aides… His tactics will not work. The owner of the hotel has already confirmed that the entire payment has already been received.”

The other accused in the case are Chaitar’s personal assistant Jitendra Vasava, Dharmesh Vasava, Madhusinh Vasava, Shivram Vasava, and Dhama Vasava and a mob of 15 people. They have been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.

The Dediapada police said they were investigating the case but yet to make any arrest.