Attack on Rahul's car: judicial custody for accused

BJP youth wing leader Jayesh Darji, who was arrested for throwing a stone at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s car in the flood-hit Banaskantha district of Gujarat, was on Sunday sent to judicial custody by a magisterial court.

Dhanera Judicial Magistrate, First Class, V S Thakor, sent Darji to jail, rejecting the police’s prayer for a four-day remand, additional public prosecutor Prakash Joshi said.

The judge also rejected the bail application of the accused, Joshi said.

The Gujarat Police have, meanwhile, launched a manhunt for three more persons  involved in the attack.

Police had arrested Darji after some local Congress workers identified him as the one who threw a concrete brick at the vehicle.

Congress members also claimed that three more people were involved in the conspiracy to attack the Congress leader’s vehicle.

They were identified as Bhagwandas Patel, Mor Singh Rao and Mukesh Thakkar.

The police said the three accused are absconding and that efforts to apprehend them are on. The police on Saturday had arrested Darji, an office-bearer of the BJP’s youth wing in Banaskantha, after his name cropped up during the investigation, an official said.

Rahul, who was on a visit to the flood-affected Dhanera town in Banaskantha on Friday had escaped unhurt in the incident.

Later, he had to cut short his address to a gathering in the Lal Chowk area of Dhanera, after black flags were waved at him by some who had turned up at the gathering.

The state government said Rahul had not taken the bullet-proof vehicle provided to him and instead decided to travel in the car of one of his party-workers.

Darji and three others have been booked under IPC sections relating to voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharging his duty, causing hurt by an act endangering his life, and mischief causing damage to property.