Chharanagar locals meet Pradipsinh Jadeja, CP, complain of police excesses

Members of the Chhara community, who were allegedly targeted by police personnel at Chharanagar on Friday night, met state home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja and senior police officials on Monday and complained of police excesses.

A delegation of the Chhara community met Jadeja in Gandhinagar and apprised him about the incident. The delegation complained to Jadeja about how the police had used force to brutalise many innocent residents of Chharanagar during the four-hour operation on Friday night.

The assault on a cop by some local residents had allegedly sparked the incident, according to the FIR registered by the police. But the delegation denied the claim, and alleged that the community was being unnecessarily victimised. The police have named 32 accused in the FIR, which includes a few lawyers.

The minister assured the delegation that stern action would be taken against officials who had resorted to excesses.

Another delegation of the Chhara community, went to the Police Commissioner and sought steps against guilty policemen. The community members told joint commissioner Amit Vishwakarma that the police had misused their powers and beat up the Chharanagar residents. They also alleged that the FIR was cooked up to frame the residents, and to cover up the atrocities committed by police personnel. Vishwakarma told the delegation that the guilty wouldn't be spared.

The police said in the FIR that a crowd of 150 to 200 residents of Chharanagar had surrounded on-duty policemen and attacked them, but had dispersed when the police reinforcements arrived. However, a number of videos show police going door-to-door and attacking the residents. A DNA photographer was also badly injured on being assaulted by police while he was trying to click photographs of the violence.

In the meantime, advocate Kailash Tamaiche, who belongs to Chhara community, alleged that police were pressuring the local residents not to speak in the case, and were threatening to book them in the case if they did.

DEMAND FOR JUSTICE

SOG ACP TO PROBE CASE

The investigation in the Chharanagar rioting case was on Monday handed over to BC Solanki, ACP with the Special Operations Group (SOG). The case was being investigated by PI RN Virani of Sardarnagar police station so far. Solanki visited Chharanagar on Monday.

Joint commissioner Ashok Yadav said that Solanki will investigate the FIR registered against Chharanagar residents by police in connection to Friday night's violence.

The probe into the charges levelled by Chharanagar residents against the police would be conducted by DCP Deepan Bhadran.

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