Immolation threat in Bhavnagar turns out to be a damp squib

RAJKOT/BHAVNAGAR: An immolation threat issued by two Congress councillors and nearly 240 others from the dalit community resulted in high drama in Bhavnagar city on Sunday.
Arvind Parmar and Jitu Patel, the two councillors in Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (BMC), had threatened in writing to the collector on Saturday that they would immolate themselves over the Una atrocity incident.Some 238 others from the dalit community had also told the collector orally they would join the councillors.
However, when the dalits gathered near the Ambedkar statue in Jasonath Chowk, none of the two councillors turned up. The crowd, however, refused to leave the place and jammed the road for nearly an hour. They told the police officials that they would not leave the place until the two Congress councillors were brought there.
Deputy superintedent of police, I G Sheikh, convinced the protestors that even the police was trying to find them and urged the dalits not to take any drastic step. The drama that started at around 3:30pm ended only at 5:30pm after the protestors were convinced and asked to leave. Sheikh told TOI, "We detained both councillors and later released them." While police remained on their toes since Saturday, the collector had also issued orders to shut down three petrol pumps in the city as a precautionary measure.
The protestors were demanding immediate arrest of the remaining accused of torturing four dalits who were skinning dead cows in Mota Samadhiyala village on July 11. They said there were 35 to 40 persons involved in the inhuman act but only 16 have been nabbed by the Una police.
Meanwhile, Parshottam Rupala, the senior BJP leader and union minister of state for agriculture and farmers' welfare, visited Mota Samadhiyala village and met Balu Sarvaiya, father of two of the four dalit youths were tortured by Shiv Sainiks. Rupala assured him that the state government was by their side. Sarvaiya told Rupala that he had been a supporter of BJP since the last 20 years yet he and other dalits were subjected to such atrocity. He also said that there were two cars and only has been seized while there is no trace of another "white car."
Earlier in the day, Gujarati actor Naresh Kanodiya called on the dalit youths recuperating at Rajkot Civil Hospital and inquired about their well being.