15 accused sent to three-day police custody in dalits attack issue

A court at Una in Gir Somnath district on Wednesday remanded 15 accused in police custody in connection with an attack on a group of Dalits, who were returning to Bhavnagar after attending a protest rally in Una on August 15.

Five other accused, out of a total of twenty arrested in this case, were sent to judicial custody by the court.

"The Additional District and Sessions court in Una remanded 15 accused to police remand till August 19, while five others were sent to judicial custody. The investigation into the case is on," Inspector in Una town police station H S Vaghela said.

The attack had taken place at Samter village near Una, in which 12 Dalits were injured, eight of them seriously.

Some police officials were also attacked when they tried to control the violent mob that targeted the Dalits. Police lobbed over 40 teargas shells and fired six rounds in the air to control the mob.

The arrested accused have been booked on the charges of rioting and assault. Some of them have also been booked for attempt to murder.

According to police, the attackers were residents of Samter, a village near Mota Samadhiyala village, where seven Dalits were brutally thrashed for skinning a dead cow.

The victims claimed that the residents of Samter attacked them to avenge the arrest of 12 people of the village in connection with last month's Una Dalit flogging case.