‘Truck stolen during riots is with MoS son’

‘‘I am not in a position to fight Umesh to reclaim my truck,’’ he says and requests officials to ‘‘get my vehicle restored to me so I can stand on my feet again’’. Sheikh has also named president of Ghoghamba Marketing Committee Arvindsinh Parmar as an accused.

Sheikh’s letter says that before the riots, he used his truck to ferry material for a government construction project undertaken by Parmar in Ghoghamba. ‘‘When the riots broke out after the Sabarmati carnage, I left for my native place, Devgadh Baria, leaving the truck in Parmar’s custody,’’ he says.

‘‘After three months when the situation returned to normal in the area, I returned for the truck but Parmar told me that miscreants had burnt it down during the communal violence,’’ Sheikh alleges. ‘‘I returned from Ghoghamba, but after sometime I came to know that the truck had not been burnt but was in the possession of Umeshsinh Chauhan, who was using it illegally for his business.’’

Sheikh claims he saw his truck in Kalol and its driver told him the vehicle was with Umeshsinh. He says he was asked to lodge a report with Kalol police. ‘‘But I did not go to Kalol police station as Kalol is Chauhan’s native place and I feared the police won’t entertain my complaint,’’ he states.

SP in-charge (Panchmahals) D.N. Patel said Sheikh recorded his statement today. Pratapsinh Chauhan refused to comment on the matter. However, in the past, he had often declared he had no links with his two sons due to their waywardness. Umeshsinh could not be contacted for comments.