On Wednesday (13th March), a court in Amreli, Gujarat sentenced Mamad Dal, his son Khalid Dal and seven others to life in prison for murdering a Bhartiya Janata Party leader Ajit Khuman and his brother, Bharat Khuman, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad officeholder. The victims were killed in Gundaran village in Amreli district on 30th November 2013 over a money-related dispute.
According to reports from 2013, Bharat Khuman’s body was discovered at the foundations of a warehouse, while his brother’s body was recovered 50-60 feet away in the market. According to reports, the 10 accused attacked the Khuman brothers with lethal weapons including daggers, axes and swords. They also gauged the victim’s eyes. The last rites of the victim duo were performed amidst a substantial police presence.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Shrivastava’s court in Savarkundla town, Gujarat found the nine accused guilty of murdering 30-year-old Ajit Khuman and his younger brother Bharat Khuman in 2013. Besides Mamad Dal and his son Khalid Dal, their relatives Salim Dal, Hakim Dal, Dinmahammad Dal, Yunus Lakhapota, his son Ilias alias Munno Lakhapota, Sumar Dal, and Usman Dal have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Mamad’s elder son, Imran Dal, was also facing a murder trial, but the case was dropped after his death in 2017.
Back in 2013, Ajit Khuman was the president of the BJP’s Lilia taluka unit, while Bharat Khuman was the sarpanch of Gundaran village in Lilia taluka as well as the head of the VHP’s Lilia unit.
During the hearing, the prosecution told the Gujarat court that the accused brutally murdered the Khuman brothers on 30th November 2013, when they were overseeing the construction of a godown in Gundaran. Reports said that the accused attacked the victim duo after a disagreement over the repaying of money borrowed from Mamad Dal by Bharat and Ajit Khuman.
Speaking to IndianExpress, Anil Desai, special public prosecutor said that the eyewitnesses corroborated their case, in addition to the scientific evidence, such as blood stains on weapons used by the accused and later seized by police.
“Four of the accused claimed they were falsely being implicated in the case and requested the court to get their brain mapping tests done. However, the tests proved that the four were hiding details about their involvement in the crime, which strengthened our case. The court took all of this into account and convicted all nine accused,” Desai said.
He further informed that the accused persons have been in jail for around 10 years as undertrials. The accused persons were convicted for murder, unlawful assembly, rioting, destruction of evidence as well as against the Arms Act. In addition, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 21,500 on each. The court further directed that a sum of Rs 51,000 be paid as compensation to the relatives of Ajit and Bharat from the amount submitted by the convicts. The court also said that an additional three months of simple jail term be imposed on the convicts if they fail to pay the fine.
