43 villagers arrested for attacking cops

Rajkot: Forty-three people were arrested in Pichhavi village near Kodinar for the brutal assault on policemen which left seven cops injured on Wednesday.
Late in the night, Kodinar police lodged two FIRs against 132 villagers of Pichhavi for attacking the team of policemen which had gone to intervene in the clash between them and villagers of Alidar over sand mining from a lake.
In fact, the policemen were attacked twice - first when they tried to pacify them and again when cops had carried out combing operation in the village. According to police, the first FIR was lodged by R L Rathod, police inspector of Kodinar, against Dinu Jodha, Navghan Raja and 90 others.
"On Wednesday, villagers of Alidar had gone to mine sand from a lake in Pichhavi. But they were refused and a fight broke out between two groups. When police rushed to the spot, around 92 villagers attacked the cops and damaged vehicles. Villagers attacked us with axes, pipes and other weapons," said Rathod.
Police said that after the first assault, more forces were called in for combing in Pichhavi and for searching the attackers. "During combing in the afternoon, some 40 villagers armed with weapons again attacked policemen, leaving two injured. Policeman Jodubha Kothi received serious injuries," said an official.
The injured policemen included sub-inspector D L Khachar, assistant sub-inspector Ranvirbhai Chudasama, head constable Jodhubha Darbar and constables Kaplesh Chauhan, Abhijitsinh Jadeja, Ramsinh Parmar and Yuvrajsinh Gohil. Police sources said that head constable Darbar was seriously injured after being hit with an axe on the head. He was rushed to a hospital in Rajkot for further treatment.