Thangadh dalit killings: 7 years on, Gujarat govt yet to table probe report

In 2016, the then BJP government under chief minister Anandiben Patel had not presented the report, saying it was under consideration. The government has also not tabled the report on the death of two boys at Asaram’s ashram, saying it is “under consideration”.

Dhanera MLA Nathabhai Patel had sought a reply on “the suspicious death of two boys studying at Asaram ashram”. The D K Trivedi Commission had submitted its report to the government, but it has not been made public yet, said the MLA. In a reply, the government has stated that as of December 31, 2018, it has spent more than Rs 70.27 lakh on Justice Dave Commission, which is probing the Naliya gangrape case.

The information was provided in response to a question by Congress MLA Pravinbhai Musadiya from Kalavad. Since it was instituted in March 2017, the commission met for the first time after a year on March 19, 2018.

However, while announcing the setting up of the Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act in March 2017, Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja had said that the panel would submit its report within three months. The government had agreed to set up the probe commission led by the retired High Court judge on the Opposition Congress’s demand.

The alleged Naliya incident involved gangrape of a 34-year-old woman who was forced into a sex racket by the accused, including some BJP office bearers and leaders.