Gujarat: Ex-Army man dies during protest, Congress alleges police brutality

“There was a clash between the police and the ex-servicemen while the protest was going on, and during the clash Mothaliya died. After that he was taken to Civil Hospital at Gandhinagar. The ex-servicemen were protesting peacefully,” said Nishit Vyas, Congress leader from Gandhinagar, who was at the spot.

“The ex-servicemen were protesting on the Chiloda road, near the army cantonment. They were going to Gandhinagar town area, where CrPC Section 144 has been imposed by the Gandhinagar Collector. There was no permission for them to hold the protest there. So, we were trying to stop them from going to the Gandhinagar town area. The protest had been going on since Tuesday morning. Mothaliya’s health condition deteriorated Tuesday afternoon during the protest. After this, he was taken to the Gandhinagar Civil Hospital using 108 Emergency Response Service. He was declared dead in the evening by the Gandhinagar Civil Hospital. It is an accidental death. He belonged to Sabarkantha district of Gujarat,” Police Inspector MG Jadeja of Chiloda police station told The Indian Express. The exact cause of his death will be known after the post-mortem, Jadeja added.

Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police Tarun Kumar Duggal said the Army veteran died due to a cardiac arrest and some age-related ailments.

“I am with Kanjibhai Mothalia’s family members at the civil hospital and post-mortem is being done. Preliminary inquiry has revealed that he died due to a cardiac arrest. He was feeling suffocated during the protest and he was already suffering from some ailments. We have not used force on protesters. There is no question of thrashing anyone,” said Duggal.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee alleged that its president Jagdish Thakor was stopped by the police while he was on his way to meet the son of the deceased ex-serviceman.

-With PTI inputs