The prime accused in the murder of a Dalit deputy sarpanch in Gujarat’s Botad district was arrested on Friday, 21 June, taking the total number of arrests to nine.
Manjibhai Solanki (51), resident of Jalia village, was beaten to death on Ranpur-Barvala road in the district on Wednesday, allegedly by a group of men belonging to the privileged class of Kshatriya. His wife Geeta Solanki is the sarpanch of Jalia.
Solanki had been waiting for his application for police protection to be approved for over two weeks, as there had been attacks on him before.
Botad SP Harshad Mehta told The Indian Express, “Till Thursday, we had arrested eight accused and on Friday, we nabbed Zeeluaapa Khachar, the prime accused. All the accused are now in our custody.”
The eight who were arrested earlier were identified as Ashok Khachar (51), Pratap Khachar (38), Ruturaj Khachar (22), Raviraj Khachar (25), Hardip Khachar (21), Kishor Khachar (30), Bhagirath Khachar (24) and Vanraj Khachar(42).
What Happened
Solanki was reportedly attacked while he was riding his motorcycle from Jalila village in Ranpur Taluka, Botad District, on the state highway, according to police, reported The Indian Express.
Solanki’s bike was knocked down by a car whose occupants then beat him up with clubs and iron pipes, said his son, Tushar Solanki. He died en route to a hospital in Ahmedabad.
This is the third incident in less than a month in the Saurashtra region where a Dalit was murdered, allegedly by Kshatriyas.
Police Protection Withdrawn
According to the victim’s family, Solanki had been targeted four times prior to his death, the last being on 3 March 2018, when he was stabbed, claimed Solanki’s son.
Thereafter, Solanki received police protection, but it was withdrawn two months later, on 17 May 2018, according to Arvind Makwana of Navsarjan, an Ahmedabad-based NGO working for Dalit rights.
The family has a copy of a memorandum, having details of the previous attacks on him, which was reportedly submitted to police in June 2018, according to The Indian Express.
Police Confirmed Prior Attacks
Corroborating Solanki’s memorandum , Botad Superintendent of Police (SP) Harshad Mehta has confirmed that he had indeed been attacked four times and that police had registered offences after each incident. He said the accused behind Solanki’s attack were the same as being named by the family for his murder.
“The accused in all these cases were same. But the latest case of 2018 was under IPC Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and the accused had subsequently got bail,”Harshad Mehta, SP Botad Police
The SP also told The Indian Express that the victim had approached them with a request for police protection.
“He had approached us with a request to give him personal security officers. As part of the due process, the police station concerned was undertaking a threat assessment,” he said, adding that the Dalit family did not have any police protection as of Wednesday, 19 June 2019.
Victim Named His Attackers
The family has a video clip, purportedly shot while Manji was being taken to hospital. In the clip, Manji is heard taking names of persons.
“I was on my way back home from Charanki. They rammed their four-wheeler and the assaulted me with sticks and pipes while hurling abuses at me… They also said that my phone has to be broken else I would alert others by making calls. So, they damaged my phone also.”Manji Solanki, as heard saying in the clip
The Quint also spoke to his son Tushar. Tushar said they had written several times to the government requesting police protection.
“We had even applied for a personal weapon (a gun) to protect ourselves. But that request was also dismissed by the collector. The Darbar community has issues with us since my family (mother and father) are the sarpanch of our village, where the post is reserved for members of the Dalit community. We always won the elections and the persons fielded by the Darbar community would always lose. They wanted revenge and killed my father.”Tushar Solanki, son of Manji Solanki
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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