The Gujarat Congress raised the topic of the mafia in Porbandar and alleged that the BJP government was reluctant in taking action against them.
In a bid to make it an election issue, the Gujarat Congress on Friday raised the pertinent topic of the flourishing mafia in Porbandar and alleged that the BJP government was reluctant in taking action against them.
The Congress rubbished the police claims that police constable Karsan Suva had committed suicide along with his wife and son recently. Leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil; Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Siddharth Patel and chief spokesperson Arjun Modhwadia said the three were murdered but none of the culprits had been arrested so far. The Congress leader demanded a CBI enquiry into the case.
A statement issued by the Congress said former Porbandar BJP president Babu Bokhiria and Samat Gogan were among the prime accused in the 2005 Mulubhai murder case. Rana Suka and Jetha Veja, who were arrested in the case, had escaped from police custody in February and March, respectively.
Bokhiria has not been arrested, despite a high court order, Congress said, adding that Gogan, a history-sheeter from Saurashtra, was seen with chief minister Narendra Modi at a public function in February 2006.
The Congress leaders claimed that the Suva family may have become the latest victims of a murky gang war, which continued to claim innocent lives, and that these murders were conveniently overlooked by the Modi government and ‘the culprits were being protected by the BJP’.
“Suva had been instrumental in arresting two accused in the Mulu Modhwadia murder case, which is why he was killed. It is suspected that Bokhiria’s gang now has plans of killing Arjun Modhwadia, his brother Ramdev and Mulu’s son, Bharat.
A representation has been made before the chief minister, requesting him to increase the security for the Porbandar MLA and demanding the arrest of the accused. But the request has fallen on deaf ears,” said Gohil, the legislator from Bhavnagar.
The Mulu Modhwadia murder case has a long history and is a typical representation of the murky mining mafia in Porbandar. A source said nearly 80 per cent of mining operations in the district were controlled by Bokhiria. Mulu had been a mining operator in the region, which was allegedly the reason for his murder in 2005.
A Congress statement said that a complaint of mineral theft amounting to Rs52 crore had been registered against Bokhiria, Bhima Dula, Lakhman Bhima and Bharat
Odedara at the Bagdar police station in Porbandar in October 2006. Moreover, a Rs200 crore limestone theft had also been attributed to them, the statement said. The statement further said that Bokhiria was believed to be a close associate of Narendra Modi. “Bhima Dula and Bokhiria’s involvement also figured in the murder of Haren Pandya, whose father and wife had repeatedly requested that this angle be probed. But it was ignored,” the statement said.
“Despite repeated reminders to the BJP government about the dangers posed by this criminal gang and the plans of those arrested to escape police custody, they managed to run away. We demand a CBI enquiry into the case,” Gohil said.
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