Gujarat: Man tied to pole, beaten to death on suspicion of theft in Vadodara

The deceased’s friend, Dinesh Parmar (30), has alleged in his complaint that the main accused in the case, Jitubhai Patel, his son Sagarbhai Patel and another villager Sanjay Patel, saw them lingering outside the village on Tuesday and approached him in the evening and questioned him.

The accused then took Parmar to Chandranagar and tied him to a pole and thrashed him, accusing him of attempting theft in their village. Soon, the accused brought Kamlesh to the village, tied him up and thrashed him as well, Parmar said. A group of seven to eight other men also joined the trio in assaulting them

Parmar has also alleged that they made casteist remarks against the two and forced them to confess that they were planning a theft. The ordeal finally ended after police was called to control the situation and both the victims were rushed to the hospital. Kamlesh, who had sustained head injuries, succumbed on Wednesday morning after his condition deteriorated.

In his complaint, Parmar stated that on Tuesday morning he and Ganava had come to Savli to meet a contractor for work. Parmar had worked with the same contractor for over a year at a private factory in Savli where he used to load and unload packages. He moved back to his village before Diwali.

“We have detained the three accused named in the FIR. We are investigating and identifying the others who were present. Parmar knew the accused by face since they own a small cutlery shop outside Chandranagar but we are finding out if the the accused knew the victims from before as well. He worked as a labourer at a factory close to the village for a year but Kamlesh was new to the place. So far, we have not found any instance of theft against the victims. But that is under investigation too,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Kalpesh Solanki.

Based on the complaint, a case under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 354 A (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 143 (whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and under relevant sections of the the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, has been registered at the Savli police station on Wednesday.