A 35-year-old police constable of Vejalpur police station was on Friday morning found dead in Makarba village, leading to tension in the area. Parvat Rathod’s body was found by Rahim Sindhi of Makarba village, who then informed the police.
Mystery surrounds the death of the cop, whose wife had delivered a baby a couple of days ago. Investigation has revealed the policeman was a habitual drinker and was in an inebriated condition when killed. Police have still not been able to determine whether the death was due to a personal feud or was a part of the communal violence.
Rathod’s body has been taken to his native place — Santhal village in Sabarkantha district — and a case of murder has registered at Sarkhej police station.
Preliminary investigations revealed Rathod, a resident of Thakor in Vejalpur village, was deputed to Vejalpur Crossroads on duty. On Thursday, he did not report for duty at 8 am or for night duty the same day. This was reported by his immediate superior, Assistant Sub-Inspector Devjibhai.
According to details collected by police, Rathod was going home in an autorickshaw on Thursday night. ‘‘We suspect the assailants were in the auto-rickshaw and that the driver was involved in the crime,’’ said Superintendent of Police, Ahmedabad (Rural), R.J. Savani.