Ahmd police book BJYM workers for rioting outside Cong headquarters

Days before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Ahmedabad, the city police on Thursday lodged an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers for rioting and unlawful assembly.

The complaint, submitted by Himmatsinh Patel, former Bapunagar MLA and chief of Ahmedabad City Congress Committee, alleges that a felicitation ceremony of ABVP workers joining Congress’s student wing NSUI was underway at the Gujarat Congress headquarters on Tuesday when “around 100-150 BJP Yuva Morcha workers” assembled outside the party office and started pelting stones.

The FIR has named 15 BJYM workers, booking them under BNS Section 189 (2) (unlawful assembly), 191 (2) (rioting), 191 (3) (rioting with armed weapon), 190 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 125 (a) (where hurt is caused) and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation).

The FIR booked BJYM members Ishit Bhatt, Kashyap Jani, Avinash Gaharwal, Akash Gehlot, Rushang Merchant, Hemant Magre, Ravi Patel, Jitubhai Khachriya, Girish Vanzara, Yash Patel, Kush Pandya, Suhag Patel, Prajesh Bharwad, Chandradeepsinh Vaghela, Siddharth Goswami and other 100 to 150 persons.

The clash at the state Congress headquarters on Tuesday has resulted in a total of three FIRs – one based on a complaint by a policeman, accusing both BJP and Congress workers of rioting; another based on a complaint by BJP Ahmedabad Yuva Morcha chief accusing Congress workers of rioting and the third by Congress city committee chief accusing BJYM workers of rioting.

Before the clash, VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders also allegedly trespassed and defaced the Congress headquarters, which, too, resulted in an FIR.