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Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
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BJP MLA surrenders

Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR: BJP MLA Fatehsinh Chauhan, wanted in connection with the 2002 communal riots in the State, surrendered before the police on Monday and was arrested.

Mr. Chauhan, MLA from Rajgarh in Dahod district, was one of the 75 accused in a case of looting, arson and rioting in some 20 villages in Devgadh-Bariya on March 2, 2002.

Although a case was filed the same month, he was declared an “absconder” by the State police. However, since then, he has contested the Assembly elections, campaigned in the Lok Sabha elections and has even attended Assembly sessions.

Apparently under pressure after the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team started rounding up other politically important personalities allegedly involved in the riots, the State police thought it fit to put Mr. Chauhan behind bars.

He is the second sitting BJP MLA to be arrested in connection with the riots after the former Minister, Mayaben Kodnani. She was arrested in connection with the Naroda-Patiya and Naroda Gaam massacres, and is currently on bail.

According to Dahod Superintendent of Police Vipul Agarwal, about 2,000 people, led by Mr. Chauhan and others, had been roaming around 20-25 villages in the neighbourhood of Devgadh-Bariya and had indulged in looting, arson and rioting in the aftermath of the Godhra train carnage.

Although no one was killed and only a woman was injured , the police filed a case , naming 75 accused, of whom 67 were arrested earlier. Now, of the remaining seven, one is dead while the others are still absconding.

Pulled up by EC

During the recent Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Chauhan was reprimanded by the Election Commission for making derogatory remarks against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. No police complaint, however, was filed against him.

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