Three more held for murder of blind RTI activist's uncle

RAJKOT: The Morbi police have arrested three more persons, including the sarpanch of Rangpar village, in the murder of an RTI activist's uncle on January 2.
Karsan Ala, 55, uncle of blind RTI activist Ratna Ala, was shot dead in the village by five persons including the sarpanch Bharat Makwana after his son Kala Ala objected to illegal mining on grazing land.
The police investigation also revealed that eight persons were involved in the murder and conspiracy . This was revealed in the questioning of one of the accused Nirmal Makwana who was arrested two days after the murder. “We have arrested sarpanch Makwana and Suresh Sarvaiya, a resident of Sardharpur in Jetpur taluka of Rajkot district and produced them in court on January 8,“ said N B Dabhi, investigating officer at Wankaner taluka police station, Morbi. Makwana and Sarvaiya were nabbed so me 5km from Rangpar.
Police also nabbed Rambhai Vadher, a native of Dharampur village of Junagadh district who lives in Jodiya near Jamnagar. Vadher was arrested from Rangpar on January 9 and was sent to jail. The investigating team has now gone to Surat taking Makwana and Sarvaiya along to find out the places where they stayed when they were on the run after committing the crime. “Kala Ala's brother, who was the complainant, had named only five persons' name in FIR but our probe till now has revealed that there were eight persons involved. A fight over illegal mining on grazing land in Rangpar had been going on.Meanwhile, Ala's family members had some scuffle with one of the accused Hitesh Dangar, whose loading machine was employed at the factory unit where Karsan Ala was murdered. This eventually led to the murder,“ said Dabhi.
Among the four accused who are still on the run is Mahavrsinh, who fired at Karsan, Lakho, Nirmal Rana Makwana and Hitesh Dangar. The deceased's son was actively working with Ratna Ala who blew the lid off the rampant illegal mining in 2014, forcing government to wake up and slap penalty of Rs 12 lakh on two errant units in Rangpar.