‘Bihari killed in Gujarat died in mishap; not lynched’

Two days after a person from Bihar was reportedly killed in Gujarat’s Surat district, the BJP government in the western state has clarified that “the victim died in a road accident and was not killed by a mob attacking migrants”.

There was an outcry in Bihar ever since news poured in that 32-year-old Amarjeet Singh, originally from Gaya, was killed by the mob in Surat. This further escalated the tense situation with one of the ruling partners in Bihar - the JD (U) - expressing its deep anguish over the incident.

However, the Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, Pradipsinh Jadeja, clarified that the person of Bihar origin died in a road accident. He condemned the attempt to link his death with the attack on North Indians.

“The aforesaid person, unfortunately, died in a road accident, not as part of an attack on ‘outsiders’. This person had been living in Surat for the past several years. He sustained serious injuries after his motorcycle first hit a tree and then a divider,” said Jadeja, in a communique, a copy of which is with Deccan Herald.

Surat Police Commissioner S K Sharma too admitted that Amarjeet died in a road accident, and “was not lynched.”

A section of media in Bihar had earlier reported how the young man from Gaya, Amarjeet, who worked in a factory in Pandeshwara in Surat, was lynched in Gujarat. JD (U) secretary general KC Tyagi went to the extent of blaming Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor for spewing poison which led to the death of Amarjeet. 

The Surat Police Commissioner, who visited the spot, said, “Amarjeet’s accident was so severe that bike was badly damaged and handle-bar twisted out of shape. “His body was flung around 15 feet away from the bike. His injuries indicate he died in the accident,” said Jadeja.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, who spoke to BJP ministers in Gujarat, said here on Monday that there had been no attack on migrants in Gujarat in the last week. “The minister has informed me that situation in Gujarat was fast returning to normalcy,” said Modi.

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