Rajkot: Jewellery unit owner among 9 held for beating 2 Bengali artisans to death

Sagar Savaliya, proprietor of MBS Ornaments – the jewellery-making unit on Bhavnagar Road – was arrested for the murder of Rahul Farsad Sheikh and Suman alias Minu on the premises of the unit on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The others arrested are MBS Ornaments managers Vipul alias Pintu Moliya, Himalay alias Jignesh Kiyada and Dhruvin alias Dhaval Hapaliya; security guard Pushpendra and his brother Shailendra; labour contractors Tanmay Bengali and Pradeep Bengali as well as Bhikha Dadal, a man who identifies himself as a journalist.

The nine men and four to five unidentified Bengali artisans have been booked under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 348 (wrongful confinement), 364 and others.

The FIR was registered at Thorala police station after a sub-inspector filed a complaint.

The police said that while Rahul was a native of Natunchar in Purba Bardhaman district’s Hatkalna village in Bengal, Minu was a native of Kalna in the district. Sajansinh Parma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) of Rajkot, said: “Rahul had hid the silver in his footwear and the security guard detected it during frisking. He took Rahul to the managers.”

After being thrashed severely, Rahul confessed that he was giving the stolen silver to his friend Minu, police said. Following this, Kiyada, Hapaliya and Tanmay Bengali, riding separate bikes, kidnapped Minu and brought him to MBS Ornaments.