The Rajkot Rural Police arrested five persons and launched a manhunt for four men of their rival group after a spent bullet casing found in a vehicle revealed a firing incident near Vinchhiya village.
The Vinchhiya police were out on patrol on January 6 night when they noticed three cars speeding on the road from Vinchhiya to Ori village. The police team intercepted the vehicles and searched them.
Inside, they found five people as well as two cartridges of which one was live and the other was a spent casing of a bullet. They also found two weapons in the car, one licensed and the other, illegal.
The weapons and cartridges were seized and sent to the FSL, said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Dr Naveen Chakravarthy.
The five men were taken to Vinchhiya police station. During interrogation, they revealed about the firing incident which had allegedly taken place just before over a dispute over a “contract” work.
The details of the contract are under investigation, police said.
ASP Chakravarthy said that the police booked all nine people from both groups for unlawful assembly, rioting and under sections of the Arms Act. Four of them were also booked for attempt to murder.
The arrested accused have been identified as Laghu Naj Dhadhal, Pratap Valku Khachhar, Dhruvraj Rajesh Dhadhal, Jayvant Jilu Dhadhal and Ranjeet Jilu Dhadhal. Four persons of the rival group – Kuldeep Shivraj Khachhar, Devendra Boriya, Lalo Jiva Govaliya and Jaydip Patgeer – are yet to be apprehended, Chakravarthy said.
