Gujarat: 5 held for murder of Dalit brothers

Ashok Kumar Yadav, Inspector General of Rajkot range, told The Indian Express: “We have arrested five main accused and formed a SIT to probe the case.”

He added that J T Gohil, sub-inspector in charge of Chuda police station — where the FIR was lodged on Thursday — and Gohil’s predecessor J B Mithapara, have been suspended with immediate effect after they were prima facie found negligent in the case.

The FIR — lodged on the basis of the police complaint filed by a relative of the deceased, Parul Khodabhai Parmar (60) — mentioned that due to frequent threats from the accused and their attempts to usurp their land, the family had written to Surendranagar police superintendent and district collector on July 5 and 6, respectively.

“Prima facie, their grievance was genuine. Investigation is on in connection to the representation made by the applicant. However, prima facie, police remained negligent and therefore, both inspectors of Chuda police station have been suspended,” Yadav told mediapersons in Surendranagar.

In her complaint, Parul named Amra Khachar, Amra’s brother Nagbhai, Amra’s sons Jilu alias Ghugha and Manglu, Bhikhu Khacahar, a person named Bhanbhai from Samadhiyala and a mob of 12 to 15 people as accused.

Based on the complaint, Chuda police booked the accused under sections 302 (murder), 306 (dacoity with murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means or weapons), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 335 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt on provocation), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs50), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting by persons armed with deadly weapons), 149 (every member of an unlawful assembly to be treated as guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code.

The accused were also booked under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for subjecting members of the Scheduled Caste to atrocities.

According to the FIR, Premji Parmar, a native of Samadhiyala, owned land in the village.

His four sons – Khodabhai, Aaljibhai, Amrutbhai and Manoj – had moved out of the village around 40 years ago and settled in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

In her complaint, Parul – Khodabhai’s widow – stated that the accused, who are Kathi Darbars, had been trying to usurp the family’s land for a long time and had been issuing threats to them, leading to legal proceedings.

Kathi Darbars sit much higher in social hierarchy in Gujarat as compared to Dalits.

The FIR was lodged after the accused assaulted four members of the family and a tractor driver – also a Dalit hired by the family for tilling their farm land – on Wednesday evening. Parul alleged that the Kathi Darbars – who are Kashtriyas but are recognised as Other Backward Castes in Gujarat – assaulted her, Aaljibhai, his wife Shanta, Manoj and his wife Nandini, on their farmland around 4 pm.

She claimed that they, along with Dalpat Parmar – the tractor driver from Tuva village – were about to leave the farm and return to Ahmedabad when the accused arrived and asked them to leave, claiming that the land belonged to them.

The accused first allegedly vandalised the family’s car and started beating the victims with sticks and scythes.

The FIR states that Aaljibhai and Manoj were carrying Rs 1 lakh cash each, as they wanted to erect a barbed wire fence round the farm, but the accused stole the cash.

The assailants also allegedly vandalised CCTV cameras installed on the farm, snatched away victims’ phones and threw chilli powder in Nandini’s eyes.

According to the FIR, Dalpat somehow managed to dial emergency services and called three ambulances even as Nandini called 100 seeking police’s help. The injured were rushed to a hospital in Surendranagar town where Aaljibhai and Manoj succumbed to their injuries, the police said.

Surendranagar SP Haresh Dudhat said that postmortem examination of the two brothers was conducted at a government hospital in Surendranagar town. After the postmortem examination, the victims’ family members refused to claim their bodies, saying they won’t perform the last rites till the accused are arrested. Hordes of Dalits gathered outside the hospital. They attempted to block roads near the hospital but were persuaded by the police to allow smooth flow of traffic.

Later, the family, along with Dalit leaders, submitted a memorandum to Surendranagar district collector seeking “true justice” for the victims and formation of an SIT to investigate the case.

They also demanded that the state government should bear expenses of Manoj’s two daughters, one of whom is studying in the US, and a son, as well as provide jobs to the kin.

They further sought that the family be allotted land near their residence in Ahmedabad in lieu of their family land in Samadhiyala.