Mumbai: Members of civil society groups who visited Gajapur village in Kolhapur district which witnessed a mob attack on homes, shops, and a mosque on July 14 have called for an investigation into the incident by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the monitoring of the probe by the Bombay High Court. The report by the fact-finding team said that the attack, which is connected to illegal structures on Vishalgad Fort, was premeditated as a meeting had been organised in the village before the attack. They said the police failed to take preventive measures to stop the attack.
The fact-finding team from the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, the Communist Party of India, and the Jamaat I Islami (Jalna) said that a mob of 1500 people, armed with swords and hammers, attacked Gajapur village, five kilometres from Vishalgad Fort, and vandalised and damaged 41 homes and shops and the 300-year-old village Jama Masjid.
The team said that interviews with the villagers indicated that the homes and properties that were attacked belonged to families that had been living in the village for generations. The affected families had no connection with the illegal structures on the fort and they had titles to their properties in the village.
The mosque too had title documents, the report said. "The motive for the attack seems to be political as the families have no connection with the illegal structures in the fort," the report said, adding that the attack was linked to coming elections to the state assembly.
The villagers fled from the attack which took place in the afternoon and this could be the reason why they were saved. One handicapped person who could not run away from the mob sustained fractures during the attack and has been hospitalised, the report said.
The report said that a meeting was held at the village before the attack and although the First Information Report (FIR) names the person who led the mob, the police did not add the name of the person at whose house the meeting was held, as an accused.
Around 51 vehicles, including 17 four-wheelers were destroyed in the attack. The mob destroyed cupboards, television sets, and refrigerators and threw away food grains stored in the homes. Cash and money were stolen from at least two homes, the report said.
The attack happened in the background of the protest by former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, against illegal structures on the historic Vishalgad Fort which is associated with the Maratha king.
Though Samhajiraje's supporters have denied his role in the attack, the violence happened after a protest march to the fort. After the attack, a police case was registered against 500 unidentified people. Later 24 of them were arrested. Prohibitory orders are in force in Kolhapur district till July 29.
The report from the fact-finding team said that the mob attacked policemen, injuring two of them. Villagers who fled their homes came back in the evening. They were given food and provided shelter by neighbours, the report added. Apart from a High Court-monitored probe by an SIT, the report has asked for the filing of separate FIRs by every family affected by the violence.
