Former Guj MLA booked for assaulting probationary forest

A former MLA of Gondal constituency, Mahipatsinh Jadeja, has been booked for allegedly attacking four probationary officers of the Indian Forest Service near Ribda, about 20 kilometres from here, police said.

Officials said the incident happened when a group of 47 probationers of the 2017 batch was returning to Ahmedabad yesterday morning by bus.

"The bus halted at a petrol pump, near Jadeja's residence, to fill fuel and four of the probationers alighted for some fresh air. One of them was leaning against the wall of Jadeja's residence and the latter thought the probationer was urinating against the wall," an official said.

A heated argument ensued in which Jadeja attacked one of the probationers, Vipul, with a rod and also three others, Rahul, Sunil and Pankaj, when they came to Vipul's rescue, the police official said.

One of the men accompanying Jadeja allegedly tried to ram them with his jeep, police said.

"The person who attacked the forest officials was identified as Mahipatsinh Jadeja along with three others. We have checked the CCTV footage," Antrip Sood, Rajkot (Rural) SP said.

"A case has been registered against Jadeja and his three accomplices and a search is on to nab them," the SP said.

Jadeja was an Independent MLA from Gondal constituency in 1990 and 1995.