Home was 1,900 km away

Local villagers Ramdas Kalu Bhil and Kamlesh Katni Bhil, who live on a farm nearby, allegedly came rushing and attacked the four with stones and sticks. Thevar was hit on his head while the others managed to flee. At the factory where Thevar worked, there has been no work since his death. His co-workers, all from Tamil Nadu, are in a state of shock.

The factory, where snacks are made from rice flour and cornflour, is run by Supu Thevar, who also belongs to Ramakrishnapuram in Tamil Nadu. The 58-year-old settled down in Naswadi 40 years ago with his family, and always gets workers from back home, most of whom are his distant relatives. Thevar was among Supu’s most recent hires and had joined a staff of seven.

The workers live on the factory premises — the size of three halls — amidst a snacks mixer, a machine that does the packaging, and large stoves. Supu pays them around Rs 5,000 a month. “Sometimes we directly pay the money to their families. My brother lives in the village, I tell him to send over the money.”

Supu’s son Dinakaran says there are very few job opportunities in Ramakrishna-puram, forcing most to either work as daily wagers or take up jobs such as in the snack factory. The 35-year-old is the only one at the factory who can speak Hindi, a language he picked up over the years selling snacks in nearby villages.

Supu says they make around Rs 50,000- Rs 60,000 a month, with the sales rising during festivals and the wedding season. Dinakaran also helps translate when the workers want to talk to the locals. Except he wasn’t around with Thevar on the evening of April 10.

“None of our workers know Gujarati or Hindi. If they were aware of the meaning of the word chor, they could have explained to the people who rushed to beat them, suspecting them to be thieves, that it was not the case,” he says. There have been several thefts of water motors in the area, putting nearby villages on the edge, Dinakaran adds.

Alakar, who speaks only Tamil, conveys with Dinakaran’s help, “When the people rushed towards us, we ran away. Ramu (as Thevar was called) ran in the other direction. We came back to the factory and went to bed. We thought Ramu may have got on to a truck, and we didn’t tell Supu about the incident because of fear that he might scold us.”

Police have failed to trace the car driver who raised the alarm calling Thevar and the others thieves. Ramdas and Kamlesh, who belong to Anandpuri village of Naswadi taluka, were arrested for beating up Thevar, but not taken on remand because “they confessed to the crime”, police said. They are now in Sankheda sub-jail.

The two have reportedly admitted that they suspected that Thevar and his friends were trying to steal a water pump installed in Kamlesh’s farm. After Thevar sustained severe injuries and fainted, Ramdas and Kamlesh reportedly dragged him and threw him into bushes near the Bodeli highway.

V S Gavit, the inspector in-charge at Naswadi police station, says that after they found Thevar’s body on April 13, and discovered the note with the phone number, “We contacted other Tamil natives staying in Naswadi for help and were able to make the identification. His family was informed.”

Sub-Inspector A S Vadavi, who is investigating the case, says they have recovered the stones and sticks used in the crime. However, police are yet to record the statements of Vannama, Alakar, and Singkamuthhu, who were with Thevar when the incident happened.

The killing has shaken Naswadi residents such as Raffiq Daniwala. “Many workers from other states come here for seasonal summer business such as selling ice-cream and mango juice. Workers who come to Supu’s factory are very kind and never enter into any altercation with others. They spend most of their time on the premises,” he says.

Shailesh Tadvi, who owns a flour mill near Supu’s factory, adds, “We don’t have any interaction with the workers at the factory, but they are good people. Everyone knows Supu in Naswadi, we also invite him to our social functions.” Supu says Thevar’s family wanted to come and claim his body. “But we explained that his body was not in a good condition since police had found it three days after he was killed. They are my relatives and they trust me and understood the situation.”

Plus, there was no money to send the body home — it would have cost around  Rs 12,000. The last rites were eventually performed by Supu and Thevar’s co-workers, in the presence of other members of the Tamil community.

Supu adds that they have closed the factory for a while as “we all are in pain”. “We will resume after offering prayers and cleaning the factory. Thevar was like a brother to me. He was very hardworking and wanted to earn money for his two children and wife.” Says Dinakaran, “All of us are like family. We cook together, eat together and enjoy together after work. Ramu liked cricket; in the evening, we would play cricket.”

Dinakaran says what he can’t understand is why Thevar left like he did, without informing Supu. “They did not wait to tell me either, otherwise we could have arranged a train ticket for them from Vadodara, which we generally do.” The Vadodara Railway Station is around 103 km from Naswadi. The day after Thevar was found missing, the workers said he had gone to his village, says Supu. “I thought he might call me after reaching there.” Alakar tries to explain Thevar’s hurry that evening, and why they all went along: Thevar hoped to reach home in time for the Tamil New Year, on April 14.