The day Harin Pathak and the BJP drew first blood in Gujarat

Deputy Commissioner of Police J. Mahapatra was reluctant to file a complaint naming the BJP leaders who allegedly incited the mob, recalls a retired police officer. “The policemen then struck work and gheroed Mahapatra. Only when Mahapatra lodged a police complaint were they pacified,” said the official.

Among those named were Harin Pathak, Ashok Bhatt, at present the Health Minister in Keshubhai Patel’s government, Kiran Shah, brother of the Minister of State for Transport Bimal Shah, and nine others.

Khadia, in fact, was an Ashok Bhatt stronghold. Tiwari, who owns a shop in Bala Hanuman Pole area of Khadia, said the agitation had already acquired communal overtones. The day Desai died, a crowd assembled, Bhatt amongst them. Soon enough, Harin Pathak arrived. The two addressed the 2,000-strong crowd, and provocative slogans rent the air. “The crowd started pelting stones on the police, and then started attacking unarmed constables,” recalled Tiwari.

Tiwari doesn’t know how Desai was killed. But another resident, who does not want to be named, said the mob attacked a constable, finding him alone. When Desai tried to save the constable, he paid the price. “He was stabbed several times,” said the resident, who maintains that Pathak, Bhatt and other BJP leaders were in the area.

After an FIR was registered, the accused were arrested and later bailed out. “The next day, on April 25, the then Home Minister Amarsinh Choudhury handed over investigations to the Crime Branch,” says a retired police officer. Assistant Commissioner of the Crime Branch, P.C. Ganetra conducted investigations and filed a chargesheet within 90 days.

Ganetra, who has since retired and is now honorary director of the Gujarat Industrial Security Force Society, a government organisation, refused to comment. But police sources said among the witnesses whose statements he recorded was Anjani K. Thakore, an additional registrar of the Gujarat High Court, who was present at the time of the incident.

Since then, two of the 12 accused have died. Pathak and Bhatt have dismissed the case as politically motivated. But, for others, the court order has brought back memories of that fateful day. “We had forgotten about it. It is surprising that nothing has happened all these years,” remarked a businessman in Khadia.

PM for legal opinion on Pathak case
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has reportedly asked Law Minister Arun Jaitley to study the chargesheet filed against Minister of State for Defence, Harin Pathak. “The Prime Minister has sought legal opinion on the matter,” PMO sources said here today. “A decision on whether Pathak should be asked to put in his papers will be taken only after Jaitley gives his opinion,” sources added.