Prohibition staff beat up migrants, then say it was a mistake

Bhaiya Colony is close to Vaghri Colony, which has a history of illicit distillation. A 200-strong mob of Vaghris, including women, had beaten back a Prohibition Department raiding party led by Sub-Inspector H P Rao.

The team went to the Sanand police station, gathered reinforcements and returned. They split in two groups — one cracked down on Vaghri Colony, the other on Bhaiya. Looking for liquor stocks, they barged into houses and beat up the residents, including women.

“They came in 10 vehicles and asked us where we had stocked liquor. We denied but they wouldn’t listen and beat us up,” said Savita, wife of missing worker Rakesh. “They took my husband away.”

Rajkumar Singh still has blue marks from the lathi blows on his legs and can’t walk. “When they could not find any liquor in my house, they beat me up,” he said. Rajesh Vishwakarma, who is still nursing injuries on his hip, said the officials did not even spare the women.

Rajkumar and Rajesh are the only men left in the hamlet, which is home to 20 families of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh. All others have fled, fearing more police raids, they said. Rakesh, along with three others, was taken away. While the others were freed, nothing is known about him.

Joint Commissioner (Prohibition) Rajan Priyadarshi admitted that his staff had mistakenly raided Bhaiya Colony. “I spoke to Deputy Commissioner (Prohibition) D.G. Vanjara and he said the mistake occured as Bhaiya Colony is close to Vaghri,” Priyadarshi said. He admitted his men had “mistakenly arrested some people from Bhaiya Colony, but later they were freed.” “We did not pick up Rakesh.”

Rajkumar, who was among the nine Vaghris and four workers taken to the Fatehbari Irrigation Bungalow after the raid, claimed that Rakesh was in the group. Rakesh’s wife Savita said: “We all saw them take him away, now they say he is not with them. What should I do now?”.

Rajesh said: “We tried to find out about Rakesh from the Sanand police but they did not listen to us.”

Since the incident, police have arrested four persons, including a woman. The records do not show seizure of liquor, and officials said it was taken away by the mob that freed the nine men.

While the families of the migrant workers are nursing their wounds and waiting for Rakesh to return, the scene at Vaghri Colony is eerie. Every body has fled and all the 30 houses are locked.