Skip to main content

Cops "tipped" Gujarat's cow protecting Shiv Sainiks, who tied Una Dalits to SUV, assaulted them with iron rods

Protest in Ahmedabad against Una incident
By A Representative
Amidst Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel ordering CBI probe into the assault on four Dalit youths with iron rods after tying them with SUV in order to punish them for seeking to skin a dead cow in a village near Una town of Saurashtra region, it has come to light that it was the local cops who had “tipped” the attackers.
Quoting police sources, one of the most well-informed Gujarat-based scribes, Prashant Dayal, has said in a personal blog that the police control room of Una had passed on information” to the attackers on July 11, following which the vigilante group of cow protectors reached the village, Mota Samadhiyala, where the Dalits were skinning the dead cown, and beat them us. The four were later taken to Una town, where they were tied to SUV and hit with iron rods.
While the Gujarati blog calls it a “small mistake” or a “misunderstanding” which, it says, “triggered” the events that followed, leading to violent Dalit protests all over Gujarat, it adds, “The police apparently acted on the basis of a wrong information which it had received.”
“The mistake of the cops was, they didn't reach the spot where the incident took place”, the blog says, adding, “They did not even think of information about it to senior police officials, Instead, they handed over the information to cow protectors or Shiv Sainiks.”
Meanwhile, the four cops, responsible for tipping the Shiv Sainiks, have been suspended.
Una aftermath: Gujarat CM poses with BJP Dalit leaders
The startling revelation has come amidst protests, which were confined to Saurashtra, spreading to Ahmedabad. At least seven Dalits are said to have tried to commit suicide in order to highlight the plight of Dalits, one of whom is reported dead.
Part of their hereditary work as tannery workers, angry Dalits across Saurashtra threatened to stop lifting dead cows and instead litter them in villages and towns across Saurashtra. In an unprecendented display of anger, they brought dead cows in tractors and dumped carcasses at government offices of Gondal and Surendranagar.
On Tuesday, things spread to other towns and cities. In Ahmedabad, more than 1,000 Dalits were detained for holding a rally and dharna in the Sarangpur area under the banner of Dalit Panther. In Amreli violent protests broke out following clashes with police, in which a head constable was seriously injured and died after he was admitted in hospital.
In Gondal, Dhoraji, Dhrol, Rajkot and Amreli there were incidents of ST buses being attacked or set on fire. There have also been reports of state highways being blocked for several hours.
The demonstrators were, apparently, not pleased with the response of the state government, which set up an inquiry by the CID Crime in the incident of the beating of four Dalit boys, and said it was “committed” to protecting the Dalits..
Four days after the incident, the Chief Minister on Monday expressed her grief over the incident through tweets saying she was “deeply pained by the incident” and that it was “very unfortunate”. She added, her government was taking all necessary action in the case.
“Our minister and parliamentary secretary have visited the spot. Compensation of Rs 1 lakh per person has been sanctioned. We will continue to extend all support to victims and bear all the expenditure of their treatment”, she tweeted.
Keeping quiet till now, rhe Congress, too, reacted on Tuesday, seeking “strict action” against all the accused, adding that the neglecting cops should be sent to jail for "lackadaisical attitude" on the matter. The Congress declared it would hand over a memorandum to the Gujarat governor, claiming, the Una incident was the result of law and order getting out of hand.

Comments

TRENDING

'Tax the top': Nationwide protests demand action as 1% control 40% of India’s wealth

By A Representative   Civil rights groups across the country observed the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, as people from diverse backgrounds united to raise their voices against growing economic inequality. The mobilisations marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against inequality, running from March 23 to April 14 (Ambedkar Jayanti), under the banner of the “Tax The Top” campaign.

Fair prices, fresh produce: Vegetable market opens in Rajasthan tribal village

By Vikas Meshram*  On 18 March 2026, the tribal village of Sajjangarh in southern Rajasthan witnessed the grand and dignified inauguration of a new vegetable market (mandi). Established through the tireless joint efforts of the Krushi Avam Adivasi Swaraj Sangathan (Bhilkuaan) and Vaagdhara, under the active leadership of the Gram Panchayat of Sajjangarh, the market is being hailed as a cornerstone for local self-governance, self-reliance, and a sustainable rural economy. 

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah   I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

Beyond India-China borders: Economic links expand, political gaps persist

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Despite growing trade between India and China, a persistent trust deficit continues to shape their bilateral relationship. Expanding economic engagement has not fully resolved political differences, many of which stem from historical legacies as well as contemporary geopolitical concerns. Border disputes—often traced to colonial-era arrangements—remain a significant obstacle to deeper cooperation, while differing strategic alignments in global affairs add further complexity.

Ex-IAS Atanu Chakraborty and a tale of two different Gujarat vision documents

By Rajiv Shah  The likely appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as HDFC Bank chairman interested me for several reasons, but above all because I have interacted with him closely during my more than 14 year stint in Gandhinagar for the “Times of India”. One of the few decent Gujarat cadre bureaucrats, Chakraborty, belonging to the 1985 IAS batch, at least till I covered Sachivalaya was surely above controversies. He loved to remain faceless, never desired publicity, was professional to the core, and never indulged in loose talk. When he neared retirement, which happened in April 2020, first there were rumours in Sachivalaya that he would be appointed SEBI chairman, and then there was talk he would be chairman (or was it CEO?) of Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City (a dream project of Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister, which as Prime Minister Modi wants to promote, come what may). But, for some strange reasons, and I don’t know why, none of this happened, despite the fact...

Witnessing Iran beyond propaganda: Truth, war, and the path beyond western paradigm

By Naile Manjarrés  On June 23, 2025—marked as the 2nd of Tir, 1404, on the Persian calendar—a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was announced. This "night of the decree" shifted the trajectory of global affairs; although the world may appear unchanged on the surface, we have yet to fully grasp its impact.

Operation Epic Fury: Making America great at the world’s expense?

By N.S. Venkataraman*  ​The decades-long enmity between Iran and Israel is well-documented, but historically, their direct confrontations have been brief, constrained by the logistical and economic limitations of sustained warfare. The current conflict in the Middle East, however, marks a radical and dangerous departure from this pattern. 

Study links sanctions to 500,000 deaths annually leading to rise in global backlash

By Bharat Dogra  International opinion is increasingly turning against the expanding burden of sanctions imposed on a growing number of countries. These measures are contributing to humanitarian crises, intensifying domestic discord, and heightening international tensions, thereby increasing the risks of conflicts and wars. 

Environmental expert urges policy overhaul as forest and water resources face critical decline

By A Representative   On the occasion of World Forest Day and World Water Day , observed on March 21 and 22, environmental voices from the Western Ghats have issued a stark warning to the Union government, calling for an urgent paradigm shift in how India manages its interconnected natural resources. In a formal communication addressed to Union Minister for Jal Shakti , Sri C R Patil , and Union Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change , Sri Bhupendra Yadav , policy analyst Shankar Sharma has highlighted a growing disconnect between sectoral policies and the holistic reality of resource governance.