The Rajkot Rural Police confirmed on Monday that they fired 10 tear gas shells and conducted a lathi charge to disperse a mob of around 1,500 people in Vinchhiya village, Jasdan taluka. The crowd had allegedly resorted to violence after the police refused to publicly parade six murder suspects through the village.
According to Superintendent of Police Himkar Singh, 52 individuals have been detained and are likely to face charges of rioting and other offences. Vinchhiya is located 82 km from Rajkot city, the district headquarters.
The unrest occurred during a police investigation into the brutal murder of a man who had filed a complaint against the accused in a land-grabbing case. Police had taken the six suspects, currently in custody, to the crime scene for a reconstruction of events.
The original FIR, filed approximately a week ago, named one individual and three others. However, during the investigation, police identified eight suspects in total, of whom six, including the main accused, have been arrested.
On Monday morning, the Vinchhiya police escorted the suspects to the crime scene. Shortly thereafter, a crowd, including relatives of the victim and other villagers, gathered outside the police station, demanding that the accused be paraded publicly through the village.
“Parading the accused is an unlawful act, and we categorically refused to conduct such a procession,” said SP Singh. While police attempted to negotiate with the crowd, tensions escalated and the mob reportedly became violent, with stones being thrown at the officers.
“In response, we took action to disperse the crowd. We fired 10 tear gas shells and carried out a mild lathi charge. The situation is now stable,” Singh added.
By Monday evening, police had detained 52 individuals who are expected to face charges of rioting, assaulting public servants and related offences under the Indian Penal Code.
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