1. Dalits in Mehsana Village Boycotted: ‘They Felt That If Dalits Don’t Do Their Work, How Can They Take out Procession’
A day after five upper caste men were arrested for allegedly boycotting Dalits socially in Lhor, the village in Kadi tehsil of Mehsana district was swarming with policemen and politicians alike, amid deserted streets with shut shops on Friday, 10 May.
The upper caste communities, mainly Thakors, had called for the boycott on Wednesday after Mehul Parmar, a Dalit bridegroom, took out his marriage procession in the village on 7 May.
Mehul’s father Manu had registered an FIR against five persons, including Sarpanch Vinu Thakor and his deputy Baldev, following which they were arrested late on Thursday, 9 May, and sent to judicial custody by a local court on Friday.
The residents of the village said things were not this bad, till the Dalits were lifting and clearing carcasses of animals owned by the upper castes.
(Source: Indian Express)
2. Ahmedabad Metro's APMC-Shreyas Stretch to Start Next Year
West Ahmedabad will have to wait longer to board the Metro Rail. The Metro's APMC-Shreyas stretch, which is a part of the 18.87 km North-South corridor, was supposed to have been completed last month, but it is now expected to be finished only late next year.
Work on the 4.6 km stretch was being executed by IL&FS Engineering, but it came to a halt in October as the company failed to pay contractors owing to financial troubles of its parent company. The Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) revoked IL&FS Engineering's contract over slow progress of work in December, and awarded contract for the balance work to J Kumar Infra in January.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
3. Surat Court on Narayan Sai: ‘Weak Sentence Might Lead Followers on Path of Crime’
The Surat sessions court, which has sentenced self-styled godman Narayan Sai for life in a rape case of his “devotee”, has observed that the convict could not be let off with weak punishment because people saw him as a “role model”.
“If such type of convict (Sai) is been (sic) given weak punishment, it might lead and motivate his followers (on the same path). When a person is seated on such a high position, where people in the society see him… as their role model and follow him, and such a religious leader doing such type of acts should not be tolerated,” the 594-page order pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge P S Gadhvi on 30 April, states.
(Source: Indian Express)
4. Upset With Customs Mandate Seeking Weight, Quality of Imported Gems, Surat Diamond Merchants to Protest
Diamond merchants of Surat have decided to hold a protest against a Customs department notification issued two days ago that mandates that gems importers must declare the colour, quality and weight of the rough precious stones that they import.
The Customs’ action comes in the wake of a case filed against absconding loan defaulter and diamond dealer Nirav Modi for overvaluing his imports. The notification warns that in the absence of such a declaration, shipments will not be released from Mumbai port, through which they are imported.
Surat’s diamond merchants cut and polish imported rough diamonds and trade them with wholesalers and retailers both in India and abroad.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. Gujarat: Hunt on for ‘Tantrik’ Who Advised Man to Sacrifice Two Girls; Man Held
Bharuch and Vadodara police are on the lookout for a Rajasthan-based ‘tantrik’, who allegedly influenced a man to abduct his relative’s daughters to offer them in human sacrifice, in Bharuch.
In a joint operation, four teams — Bharuch Police, Crime Branch Bharuch, RR Cell Vadodara and Crime Branch Vadodara — arrested the accused, Kanti Rathod (44) from Vadodara railway station on the night of 5 May. The girls, aged 16 and 4, are safe.
Police said that Rathod, a native of Aravalli, abducted the girls on 1 May night and was preparing to kill them to please a deity, on the instructions of a tantrik. The police have learned that the tantrik’s first name is ‘Nawal’, and have found out his phone number.
(Source: Indian Express)
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