GCTOC case: Cong Dalit leader, 3 family members sent to 4-day police custody

The police is yet to seek Jayesh’s transfer remand for probing his role in the GCTOC Act case.

Written by Gopal B Kateshiya

Rajkot, A Dalit leader from the Congress in Junagadh, his two sons and nephew, who were arrested under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Act, were on Sunday sent to four-day police remand by a designated court in Rajkot.

Raju alias Rajesh Solanki, his two sons Sanjay and Dev, and nephew Yogesh Bagda were arrested by the district police Saturday under the stringent anti-terror and anti-organised crime act for allegedly leading a gang of criminals and committing crimes in the Junagadh jurisdiction. Solanki is the SC/ST cell president of the Junagadh district unit of the Congress. His son Sanjay is the president of Junagadh city unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of the Congress.

Notably, Solanki had demanded that the BJP seek Gondal MLA Geetaba Jadeja’s resignation and her husband Jayrajsinh’s arrest by August 15 after their son Jyotiradityasinh alias Ganesh Jadeja allegedly kidnapped, assaulted and threatened Sanjay with a firearm in May.

A kidnap and attempt-to-murder case was filed soon after against Jyotiradityasinh and 10 other men. Eleven people, including Jyotiradityasinh, were arrested and have been in judicial custody. On Friday, the police had filed a charge sheet in the attempted murder case.

Giving the BJP an ultimatum, Solanki had said that if their demands were not met with, he and 12 other members of his family would convert to Islam. They also collected application forms for converting to Islam from the Junagadh collectorate on July 11.

However, a day later, Junagadh police booked Solanki, his younger brother Jayesh alias Javo alias Savan Solanki, his two sons and nephew under the GCTOC Act. While Jayesh is in judicial custody for allegedly attempting to murder a doctor in Junagadh on June 11, the other four were arrested Saturday.

According to the FIR filed, Raju Solanki was the leader of the gang. On Sunday, the 49-year-old Solanki and others were produced in the Rajkot court.

 “We sought remand of the accused for five days stating their custody was required for collecting evidence. The court partially granted our request and sent the accused on four-day police remand ending Wednesday,” said Tushar Gokani, special public prosecutor of GCTOC Act cases in the Saurashtra region, who appeared in court on behalf of the police.

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The police is yet to seek Jayesh’s transfer remand for probing his role in the GCTOC Act case.

Courtesy:  Indian Express

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