Surat: The Muslims at Shiyalaj village in Kosamba allegedly beat DGVCL (Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd) officials with sticks, torn shirt and spoke abusive words during a drive to check illegal power connections.

DGVCL officer Krupal Naran Patel (age 45) from Kapodra, Surat and his team went to Shiyalaj village for checking drive against electricity theft and illegal power connections. They found electricity theft at the home of Shaukat Yusuf Shaikh in the village. Other migrant Muslims namely Sahir Shaikh and others rushed there. One of those gathered told the DGVCL team that they filed an electricity theft case against him after conducting checking at his home in his absence and he could have killed them if he was present at that time. They told the DGVCL team members that they only catch Muslims for electricity theft for the past many days. They went on to say that they will continue the practice of electricity theft, no matter what the DGVCL teams do.

The accused allegedly spoke abusive words targeting KN Patel, grabbed his shirt collar and tore his shirt. The accused Sahir called two others namely Mohsin and Nasir. They gave threats to the officials that they would kill them if they enter the village without asking. KN Patel fell down after the accused Sahir beat him up with a stick on his head, left hand and knee of right leg. They also gave death threats to his staff when they interfered to rescue KN Patel. The complaint was filed at Kosamba police station. DeshGujarat