Ahmedabad

The Gujarat High Court today ordered an “independent investigation” by police into an alleged assault by BJP MP from Porbandar Vitthal Radadiya and others of a shop-owner at Dhoraji in Rajkot district last year.

Police are accused of not registering an FIR in the case.

Justice Sonia Gokani ordered that the case be investigated independently by the Superintendent of Police (Rajkot rural) and the IG (Rajkot range) should supervise it.

A report should be filed by June 15, the HC said.

Radadiya, then a Congress MP, had rented out a shop at Dhoraji to Sharifbhai Shakariyana, a party worker.

On October 12 last year, Radadiya and his men allegedly beat up Rajesh Mehta, who ran the shop on Shakariyana’s behalf, to get it vacated.

When Mehta approached the police, they only registered a non-cognisable offence and not an FIR.

Mehta then moved the local court at Dhoraji, which too ruled that the offence being non-cognisable, no FIR could be filed.

He then moved the HC, seeking a CBI probe. The HC refused to order a CBI probe but ordered an independent probe by the DSP.

Mehta’s lawyers argued that Sharifbhai, the tenant, had occupied the shop for a long time, he had the telephone connection in his name and he was in “settled possession”, so he cannot be dispossessed without due legal procedure.

Radadiya is in news at present after a video showing him beating up an elderly man at a religious function at Jamkandorna in Rajkot district went viral some days ago. PTI