Botad: The husband of a Dalit sarpanch was allegedly beaten to death using sticks and pipes by around six men when he was going on his motorcycle on Ranpur-Barvala road in Botad district on Wednesday, the police said.
Hours before he succumbed to his injuries, 51-year-old Manjibhai Solanki claimed in his dying declaration, recorded by his relatives on a phone, that his motorcycle was first hit by a car, after which he was thrashed mercilessly by five to six men in that vehicle.
The deceased was the husband of Geeta Solanki, the sarpanch of Jalia village of Ranpur taluka of Botad, said the police. A member of Jalia gram panchayat, he also served as the deputy sarpanch, an informal post, they said.
Doctors at Ahmedabad civil hospital declared Solanki brought dead in the evening.
"We have started the process of registering an FIR. We will also take into account the dying declaration, which Solanki gave to his relatives," Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajdeepsinh Nakum said.
In the video, Solanki can be seen lying in a semi-unconscious state on the rear seat of his relative's car when he was being taken to a nearby hospital. He can be heard saying that when he was going on his motorcycle, he was first hit by the car and then mercilessly beaten up with sticks and pipes by five to six men.
Meanwhile, it came to light that the victim and his wife had sought police protection last year, claiming that a few men from the Kathi Darbar community (OBC) may harm them due to a past grudge.
In a letter written to the state DGP (Law and Order) in June last year, Solanki had claimed that there was a threat to his and his family members' lives and they must be given police protection.
Solanki had also mentioned in the letter that though he was given police protection in March last year, it was withdrawn within two months.
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