Civil society team seeks judicial investigation into cops' "attack" on Chharanagar

By A Representative 

A Gujarat civil society fact-finding team in Chharanagar incident in Ahmedabad — in which the police allegedly entered in the midnight of July 26 in the locality’s individual households and beat up men, women and children following a fracas between a police official and two of the locality residents — has demanded that the incident should be investigated under a team headed by a sitting judge.
Pointing out that the Chharas are a denotified tribe, which was derogatorily called criminal tribe during the British rule, the team insisted there should be legal action against the cops involved in the violent incident, adding, all those who were injured should be provided medical treatment free of cost, and their statements taken.
Also seeking removal of the cops stationed in Chharanagar with the aim of creating an atmosphere of fear among the residents, the team said in its report, criminal cases instituted against innocent people should be taken back. Seeking compensation for the Chhara households which have suffered mental and physical injury, the team said, a policy for socio-economic and educational upliftment of the community should be worked out.
The civil society team included well-known advocate Shamshad Pathan, civil society leaders Hofeza Ujjaini, M Sharif Malek, Khairunnisa Pathan and Sudhila Prajapari, and local activists Trushik, Krishnakant, Ankit Rathod and Abhishek Indrekar.
Full report in Hindi can be accessed here