Rajkot BJP corporator sent to judicial custody

Rathod, the corporator from ward number 6 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC), had allegedly tried to kill Dodiya, fellow BJP corporator from the same ward, and her husband Kiritsinh, by hitting the couple’s scooter and trying to run them over on the Independence Day. After the couple fell down, Rathod and three others allegedly attacked them with sword and baseball bats. In his complaint filed at B Division police station, Kiritsinh has alleged that Rathod hit his wife with the butt of a revolver.

After his arrest on Friday, Rathod spent two days in police custody. Three of his accomplices were also sent on police remand for a day. However, a local court on Monday refused to grant further remand of the accused to police and had sent them to judicial custody. “Rathod has been harassing me and my family for the past four years to overtake me politically. Every time I complained to party leaders, they told me they would take action. But nothing has happened,” Dodiya said.

Dodiya is still receiving treatment in Civil Hospital in the city while her husband was discharged on Tuesday. B Division police inspector Suresh Pandya said he suspected the incident was a fallout of the political rivalry between the two corporators. Rajkot city BJP unit president Bhikha Vasoya was not available for comment.