Junagadh’s sensational Chandni murder case culprits nabbed

In a major breakthrough on Saturday, Saurashtra’s two most wanted culprits Mohan Hamir and Mahesh Chauhan were nabbed by Junagadh police in Mumbai after over two years of lookout.

Both Mohan and Mahesh were most wanted in the sensational and much hyped rape and murder of two Koli girls, Jyoti (18) and Chandni (15), on the Girnar hills in Junagadh on May 13, 2007.

Chandni and her friend were raped in broad daylight in the jungle of Datar Hill. Chandni was killed when she tried to oppose the criminals.

The incident also took political turn as Chandni was from Koli community and assembly elections were due. Koli community members had registered a state-wide protest against government’s inability to nab culprits Mahesh Chauhan and Mohan Hmir.

Agitation took on a violent turn at many places including Rajkot. Some buses were set to fire by Koli community agitators in Surashtra region. A series of rallies and protests were carried out for five months. The community leaders had even submitted a memorandum to the chief minister in this regard.

Congress and BJP rebels tried to highlight the issue against the Modi government. BJP’s Koli MP from Surendranagar even had left the party. However, the agitation subsided and political parties also withdrew from the issue after Assembly elections.

Cops even interrogated Santokben Jadeja Godmother to find out the criminals, but nothing concrete came out in the investigation. Following societal pressure, Chandni’s friend, who belonged to Khant community, tried to commit suicide.

Now after two years, finally when culprits are arrested, the police is in upbeat mood. Junagadh’s DSP congratulated his police team on this success.