Gujarat: Six members of notorious Godhra gang held under stringent GUJCTOC Act
The Panchmahal police have arrested six persons among nine members of a “terrorist gang” from Godhra who have been booked under the stringent Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GUJCTOC) Act. The police said the members of the gang have 45 cases against them pertaining to alleged cow slaughter, theft of vehicles and animals as well as assault on cops since 2010.
The accused have been identified as Sabir Yakub Hayat and his son Mehfooz Sabir Hayat, Mobin Sayyed Hayat, Mohammad Hanif Yakub Hayat, Mehfooz alias Munna Hussain Badaam, Shabbir Abdul Rab Dav and his sons Muzaffar and Ashraf, and Yakub Ishaaq Daant.
Badaam was arrested last week in a case of attempted cow slaughter and is in judicial custody in Godhra sub-jail, while Mehfooz Hayat and Mohammad Hanif are yet to be apprehended.
The FIR registered at Godhra B Division police station on Sunday states, “The accused, in order to continue their illegal activities for financial profit, use criminal force and lethal weapons to intimidate common people and attack government officials on duty. They also cause damage to private properties. They create law and order problems and use terrorist means to instil fear in the minds of locals.”
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Godhra, CC Khatana told The Indian Express, “We have applied for a transfer warrant to get the custody of Munna Badaam… We have also formed teams to nab two others who are yet to be arrested… Of these, Sabir Hayat, aged about 55, has 25 cases against him pertaining to theft of vehicles, cow slaughter, illegal transportation of cattle, attack on police, and so on.”
“The nine accused have a total of 45 cases filed against them in the last ten years. They are related to each other and are a syndicate notorious for attacking police parties raiding suspected locations for cow slaughter or checking vehicles,” he added.
Khatana said the group has also been booked for criminal intimidation and assault of villagers and police informers in cases of cow slaughter raids. “This gang mainly operates in tribal districts like Panchmahal, Mahisagar, Dahod, Bharuch and so on… They have deployed men from Mewat in Haryana, who are known for stealing animals. They go around the villages of the districts and commit cattle theft for slaughter. The gang has been booked under the GUJCTOC Act, which also requires three cases to be filed against the members since 2019. Even that condition has been fulfilled. This is the first case in the state against an organised gang involved in illegal slaughter of animals.”
The GUJCTOC court in Godhra remanded the six accused to seven days in police custody.
