By Wednesday, all police stations in Gujarat are expected to provide lists of ‘goondas’ or anti-social elements in their areas to Director General of Police (DGP), Vikas Sahay, based on which, action ranging from property demolition to cancellation of bail would be taken against them, as per Sahay’s directive issued on March 15.
Two such demolitions took place last week — one at the house of an alleged bootlegger in Morbi and another involved six caught for rioting in Ahmedabad who were also allegedly beaten in public.
The DGP’s orders came right after the Ahmedabad incident.
Alap Soni and his uncle’s family were heading out to celebrate his parents’ marriage anniversary on March 13 near Nirant crossroads of Vastral in Ahmedabad, when a group of some 19 to 20 men brandishing swords, sticks and knives had seemingly blockaded the road near Mahadev Imperial building and were attacking people. When the Soni family’s car slowly tried to pass through, the miscreants set upon them with their weapons, smashing the vehicle and terrorising the occupants. This was around 9.45 pm.
An FIR was lodged based on Soni’s complaint. He alleged that when they got out of the car to reason with the attackers, they were assaulted. Soni said that he was stabbed on the back of the neck and left hand, while another attacker hit his uncle Kashyap with a pipe and he fell on the ground. Meanwhile, another set upon his cousin Arth and injured him on both hands with a knife he was wielding, while another hit him with a bat. The group also damaged their car and other vehicles parked along the road. According to Soni, while leaving, one of the men allegedly said, “Let’s see how Sangram (Sikarwar) sits in this area now.” Sikarwar leads a gang in the area.
Within hours of the incident, an FIR was filed at Ramol police station at 3 am on March 14 against nine people and others identified only by their first names. They were booked for attempted murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, among others under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Later on the same day, the Ahmedabad city police arrested 14 people, including a minor. The adult accused were identified as Aldeep Motilal Maurya, Aasil Vasant Makwana, Shyam Ashok Kamle, Rohit alias Durlabh Kishan Sonwane, Mayur Bharat Marathi, Nikhil Pramod Chauhan, Vikas alias Bittu Mahendrasingh Parihar, Pradeep alias Monu Arunkumar Tiwari, Rajvirsinh Narendrasinh Bihola, Alkesh Satyendrakumar Yadav, Ayush alias Bobby Ashoksingh Rajput, Ankit Dinesh Rajput, and Deepak Vijay Kushwaha. These accused were sent to a four-day police remand on March 15, and then to judicial custody on Tuesday.
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On March 14, posts were shared on the X account handles of the Ahmedabad City police and the Gujarat police tagging purported videos of plainclothesmen parading the accused on the street and beating them with sticks. Roughly translated, one of the posts by the Gujarat Police, sharing the video of the accused purportedly being paraded, read, “The anti-social elements who committed the crime in Vastral last night are in police custody. The police have taken prompt and accurate exemplary action. Those who harassed the people of Gujarat have been made aware of the power of the law.”
Videos of this went viral on social media.
Asked if the “parading and flogging” of the accused would become a norm, DGP Sahay told The Indian Express: “I will have to look into it (referring to the videos).”
Further, on March 15, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) demolished parts of properties of seven of the accused in this case, marked as “illegal”. The action was taken against Ayush Rajput, Rohit Sonwane, Mayur Marathi, Rajvirsinh Bihola, Alkesh Yadav, and Aasil Mawana.
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An AMC official told The Indian Express that a list of the 14 accused was provided to the civic body. “On the directions of the state police, the civic body verified and found out that out of 14 accused, six had unauthorised residential constructions”, and that those were demolished.
On Monday (March 17), Chhotelal Tiwari, the grandfather of accused Pradeep Tiwari approached the Gujarat High Court, seeking an urgent hearing of his petition stating that the AMC had given served only a two-day notice, claiming that parts of their house were constructed illegally, while the rules mandated a period of 15 days to reply to such a notice. On Tuesday, Government Pleader G H Virk agreed to give the petitioner 15 days time to respond, following which, Justice Mauna M Bhatt dismissed the petition.
DGP Sahay on March 15 gave police stations “100 hours” to compile the list and warned that action would be taken in co-ordination with municipal authorities, the government owned power distribution company and banks. The 100-hour time limit ends on Wednesday. He followed it up with a video statement on Sunday that said, “Gujarat Police has strategised a ’whole-of-government’ approach to take strict action against anti-social elements. A statewide list is being prepared in the next 100 hours. Ruthless action will follow. Top 20 bootleggers are already identified. Safety and security are our priority — wait and watch!”
The demolition action in Ahmedabad came close on the heels of a similar demolition that had taken place in Morbi district on March 13. The local civic administration in Morbi district sent JCBs to pull down illegal portions of a property belonging to Rafiq Haji, the brother of alleged bootlegger Iqbal Haji, and others. Speaking on this case, Morbi SP Rahul Tripathi said, “A total of 44 shops built on illegally encroached government land were demolished. Of these, 12 belonged to Rafiq Haji, while the rest were owned by others, but were also illegal.” Notably, Iqbal Haji’s family members had allegedly assaulted and injured five policemen during a raid at their liquor den in Khirai village of Maliya Miyana taluka of Morbi on March 4. A total of 10 people had been arrested in that case.
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In the Ahmedabad case, the accused have been booked under BNS Sections 109(1) (attempt to murder), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt), 189(2) (unlawful assembly), 190 (joint responsibility for unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 191(3) (rioting with deadly weapon), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 324(6) (mischief), 296(b) (obscene acts in public spaces), 351(3) (criminal intimidation). They were also booked under Section 135(1) (disobeying lawful orders) of the Gujarat Police (GP) Act.
The Ahmedabad City Police had arrested 16 people till March 17 with the apprehension of two more accused persons — Ravi Tiwari and Hemant Bhavsar, the latter being the cousin of Pankaj Bhavsar, the head of the gang. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Krunal Desai, I Division, told The Indian Express that the police were on the lookout for at least four more persons, including Bhavsar. According to the police, the clashes were a result of rivalries between the gangs led by Bhavsar and Sikarwar.
On March 18, Ravi Tiwari and Hemant Bhavsar were presented in court and the police were granted six days of remand of both.
The Indian Express has learnt that out of the 14 apprehended accused, there are no previous offences registered against six. ACP Desai said that many of them had just joined in the mayhem because they had been called by their friends. “Hemant Bhavsar had been called to Vastral and he brought some of his friends along, many of whom don’t even know Pankaj Bhavsar per se,” he said.
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However, at least four persons involved in this case allegedly have a minimum of one or two previous offences registered against them. According to ACP Desai, “We have earlier invoked PASA against Sangram Sikarwar thrice so far. Also, Pankaj Bhavsar was apprehended under PASA in January 2025 and was released earlier in March.”
(With inputs from Ritu Sharma)
