Rajkot: Three men have been arrested and a fourth is absconding after an unidentified man was beaten to death in Khokhari village of Paddhari taluka in rural Rajkot, allegedly over false suspicions that he was part of a child-lifting gang.
Paddhari police arrested Bhikhu Jadeja, Jigar Jadeja and Raghu Sitapara, while a search is on for Harijitsinh alias Raja Jadeja. All four are accused of unlawfully detaining the man before May 14, 2026, tying him to a neem tree and assaulting him with sticks, clubs and pipes, leading to his death. The accused allegedly later called 112 and gave false information to police.
Mahendra Khimsuriya, a constable with Paddhari police, filed a complaint under BNS Sections 103(1), 212(A), 127(3), 190, 61(2) and other relevant provisions against Bhikhu Jadeja, Harijitsinh alias Raja Jadeja, Jigar Jadeja, Raghu Sitapara and others.
In his complaint, Khimsuriya said that on Wednesday night, while on duty as the 112 public safety in-charge, he was patrolling the Paddhari town area when he received an emergency message from the 112 control room about Khokhari village. He and driver Khushal Rathod rushed to the spot.
At the village, they found a man tied with a white rope near a neem tree outside a paan and cold drinks shop with 25-30 villagers present. Some were holding weapons such as clubs and pipes. One of them identified himself as former sarpanch Bhikhu Jadeja and claimed the man was an outsider who had been throwing stones at farm labourers and rumours suggested he had come to kidnap children. On this suspicion, the group allegedly caught the man, tied him up and beat him.
The victim was taken in an unconscious state to the Paddhari government hospital, where the on-duty doctor declared him dead.
Investigating officer M G Chauhan told TOI that the body was sent to Rajkot Civil Hospital for a forensic postmortem. The preliminary report states that death occurred due to multiple injuries across the body. The deceased is estimated to have been between 30 and 40 years old.
Police said the man was a resident of Bihar and his family has been contacted. Further action will be taken after the family identifies the body.
The incident comes close on the heels of similar cases in Rajkot city, where three people were assaulted within hours over similar child-abduction gang rumours. Police later found that some of them were mentally unstable while others were beggars. With a similar incident now reported from rural Rajkot, police said false rumours about child-lifting gangs continue to pose a serious risk.
