In Sabarkantha, villagers block highway, attack cops after accident; 42 people booked
In a bid to disperse the mob, tear gas shells were opened following which the mob ran away into nearby fields.
3 min read
A videograb of vehicles queueing up on the national highway in Sabarkantha following the death of a youth in accident. (Express File Photo)The Gujarat Police Friday booked 42 people, including three women, for alleged attempt to murder and rioting after several hundred residents of Gamdi village in Sabarkantha blocked a national highway purportedly agitated by the death of a local in a road accident.
According to Sabarkantha Deputy Superintendent of Police Atul Patel, the blockade was triggered after a man from the Gamdi village was on his way to get milk from a local dairy when a vehicle hit him, causing his death on the spot. The locals were agitated that no action had been taken despite several representations to the administration demanding a bridge on the said road owing to fatal accidents in the past.
“The death caused an uproar among the villagers because there have been a few more accidents on the spot in the recent past and they resorted to blocking the Himmatnagar-Shamlaji highway. The police immediately reached the spot but were, in turn, attacked by the mob that had gathered. Three police personnel sustained injuries and were treated on an OPD basis. A police van was also burned down.”
In a bid to disperse the mob, tear gas shells were opened following which the mob ran away into nearby fields.
An FIR, filed based on a complaint by Indravijaysinh Rahevar — the head constable of the Gambhoi police station, named 42 accused, including three women — all residents of Gamdi village.
When the police arrived at the spot around 6:30 am after being alerted about the highway blockade, a “mob of around 500 to 700 people that had gathered” refused to budge and demanded that the local MLA, the district collector or the district superintendent of police be brought in, the FIR stated. The mob allegedly then pelted stones and tree branches on police vans, burnt tires and before surrounding the police van of DySP Atul Patel and setting it on fire. The police estimate that the mob caused damage worth around Rs 15 lakh.
The accused have been booked under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance), 337 (cause hurt by rash or negligent act, endangering life), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 441 (criminal trespass), 427 (commit mischief causing loss), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147, 148 (rioting) and 149 (common object) as well as under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
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