Dahod clash: 18 accused granted bail

The court granted bail to 18 of the 20 accused who were absconding since the incident, but surrendered only two days ago.

Eighteen accused in the Devgadh Baria incident of March 14 were granted bail by the sessions court in Dahod Saturday, two days after they surrendered before the police. The court postponed hearing on two other accused for Monday.

Police at Devgadh Baria town in Dahod district had filed an attempt-to-murder case against 32 accused on March 14, after locals in Muslim-dominated Dhanpur locality allegedly clashed with the police over a traffic issue. The incident took serious turn after a local police sub-inspector fired two rounds from his service revolver, allegedly to control the marauding mob that was agitated after police beat up an auto-rikshaw driver who they said was violating a traffic rule.

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The court granted bail to 18 of the 20 accused who were absconding since the incident, but surrendered only two days ago. The court will hear bail plea of two other accused — Wasim Sheikh and Javed Tenia — on Monday. The court also granted anticipatory bail to Asif Bhimla, a school principal who claimed he was wrongly framed. His anticipatory bail plea has been pending for months.

All the 32 accused, which included five women, were framed for attempt to murder under section 307 of the IPC. The police had arrested the five women in the case on March 14, but they were granted bail.