Kheda stone pelting: 28 accused get bail, told not to enter Matar

The court of principal district and sessions judge (DSJ) Atulkumar Raval primarily took into account that all the accused were not named in the FIR that was lodged at Matar police station in Kheda and observed that whether the accused brought deadly weapons with an “intention of inflicting mortal and grievous injury” remains subject to evidence.

The court also took into consideration that those who were injured in the incident have been discharged from the hospital and are out of danger.

Categorically opposing the bail of nine of the 28 persons, the prosecution had submitted that the accused had “hatched a conspiracy during garba to create communal tension” and that the nine accused along with others were involved in a “similar incident of creating communal tension during Holi” in Undhela village.

For one of the accused —Sajitbhai alias Sajitsukhdi Mustakbhai Vohra — the prosecution had submitted that as per investigation, Vohra’s auto-call recording had allegedly revealed that he had spoken “provocatively”.

The court took into account that while the prosecution pointed to a similar incident during Holi, no pending case remains against the said accused and neither have they been tried and punished for any such case, and the said accused were declared innocent following settlement with the complainant at the time.

The court also took into account that the 28 accused would also be required to be released on bail on grounds of parity, as the same court had earlier released 18 others accused in this case on bail in October.

With the grant of bail to the 28 accused on Thursday, all 46 accused who were arrested in the case now stand released, said a defence lawyer associated with the case.

On October 3, at around midnight, according to the complaint filed before the police, a mob of 150-200 persons had allegedly attacked a garba event at Undhela village by pelting stones inside a Swaminarayan temple and allegedly “hurting religious sentiments”.

The incident grabbed public attention after videos surfaced on social media of the police publicly flogging several of the said men at the village square following the incident, with the public cheering.

Five victims of police excesses, including a woman who has alleged that she was assaulted by the police at her house, had moved the Gujarat High Court in October with a contempt petition, submitting that such flogging was in violation of guidelines that police are required to follow during arrest and detention.