Gujarat, is often boasted for its safety, being women-friendly, and prosperous region. This year, however, the westernmost-state’s sea routes turned into smuggling hubs, roads full of accidents, people with intentions to illegally settle abroad, fake offices with fake officials, and liquor parties.

Some episodes of crime shook Gujarat to its core, while some made the entire country look west, with the way they were executed.

A bad start to the year

The year started with a bone-chilling incident of rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl that came to light in Gujarat’s Botad in Jan 2023.

In January, an NRI husband Kiran Bhow stabbed his wife in Ahmedabad's Makarba to avoid returning to the US for treatment for her cervical cancer.

While in Saurashtra’s Jetpur, a man was allegedly killed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader when the latter learned about his daughter’s love affair with the man.

However, the dearth of humanity does not end here; a total of three murders shook Ahmedabad and took place across the city in a span of just 12 hours in November.

One murder that later turned out to be suicide occurred in the western part of the Sabarmati Riverfront; a second case was reported from the Shahpur area of Ahmedabad, where a businessman attacked and murdered his competitor.

In a third, a woman was strangled to death by her sister-in-law over a family dispute.

In a fit of jealousy, a 22-year-old man killed his same-sex 16-year-old partner in Jamnagar this November.

The gruesome murder involved the accused, who attempted to burn the boy’s corpse with petrol after strangling him to death.

While on the same peninsula, in Saurashtra’s Bhavnagar, a Dalit woman was beaten to death by the assailants when she refused to have her son withdraw the SC/ST Atrocities Act case.

In a shocker from Ahmedabad, a tragic road accident occurred on the ISKCON bridge when the onlookers of an accident were rammed into by another speeding car, claiming the lives of nine innocent people in July this year.

Accused Tathya Patel, who was driving the car, and alleged criminal father Pragnesh Patel are still embroiled in the case where the Gujarat High Court recently rejected the regular bail application filed by them.

Illegal, deadly ‘dunki’ dreams

Every year, Gujjus make their way to foreign countries by hook or crook. People have paid lakhs just to escape their own country and breathe foreign air illegally.

Consumed by the American dream, illegal migrants often meet a tragic fate. In Apr 2023, four family members from Mehsana died while crossing the Canada-US border, a painful reminder of the tragic fate a family from Dingucha met attempting something similar.

Moreover, Gujarat High Court hearings are underway on the issue of nine people from Gujarat who mysteriously vanished seven months ago while attempting to enter the USA from Dominica.

Days ago, as the episode of illegal dreams of Indians to reach the US unfolded, a total of 21 Gujarati passengers out of 303 were stranded in France, embroiled in a human trafficking probe.

Now that’s new

Even with crimes, there’s always a first.

While three were held for cultivating cannabis (ganja or marijuana) using a hydroponic technique at an apartment in Ahmedabad’s Sarkhej.

Hyddroponic cannabis

In another case, a man was held from Gujarat after faking his death for 17 years. The 39-year-old from Nikol was arrested by the Ahmedabad crime branch for faking his own death for 17 years and getting lakhs of rupees in insurance funds from the company.

A duo from Bhuj town in Kutch was arrested with fake currency notes of ₹50 lakh face value. Though appearing to be similar to the real currency notes, the fake notes had no serial numbers and were printed with ‘Children Bank of India’.

Gujarat’s imposter issue

After fake officials, offices, documents, and currency notes, a town in Gujarat’s Saurashtra witnessed a fake toll plaza!

In Dec 2023, a fake toll plaza was busted that had been collecting toll taxes for almost 1.5 years.

In the same month, a man who was a fake CMO official, an alleged sex offender, and a fugitive was arrested in Mizoram by the Vadodara Detection of crime branch.

Kiran Patel

While talking of conman, how can one forget Kiran Patel, who impersonated a PMO official, and was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police in Mar 2023?

Ten individuals, nine of whom hail from Nagaland and Manipur, were arrested in Gujarat’s Junagadh for operating an illicit call centre that aimed at defrauding American citizens.

Similarly, in raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 13 call centres in Ahmedabad, cybercriminals were allegedly caught extracting tax payments from foreign nationals worth ₹157 crore.

In a bizarre case, a fake government office surfaced in Gujarat’s Chhotaudepur. The fake office availed of grants worth crores of rupees during the tenure of its so-called functioning.

In a similar case from Dahod, the accused, Sandeep Rajput and Abubakar Saiyed availed of a government grant worth ₹9.90 lakh over a check dam built ten years ago in Dahod district.

Another such case was of the Chilarvant village of Chhotaudepur, where the perpetrators had merely applied plaster over a dam built in 2016–17 and had availed of heavy government grants!

Drugs, drinks, guns and more

As Gujarat is set to bid farewell to the year 2023, the state government’s surprising decision to relax the liquor ban in GIFT City in Gandhinagar sparked chatter across the state over the permit.

However, the ‘dry state’ is already swaddled in a pool of illegal drugs, liquor, and even weapons.

Just four days before New Year’s Eve 2023, Bopal police station in Ahmedabad arrested six men after inebriated men fired blanks from the starter gun.

Recently, Ahmedabad Rural’s local crime branch (LCB) confiscated foreign liquor worth ₹48 lakh on Dec 14 evening from a gas tanker en route to Rajkot on the Bagodara highway.

The desire to consume alcohol went so far that people consumed a toxic ayurvedic syrup to intoxicate themselves. However, almost seven people were killed as of now after consuming  ‘Kalmeghasav-Asava Arishta’ syrup that contained methyl alcohol, a highly toxic substance, which was mistakenly used in place of ethyl alcohol in the syrup.

Moreover, Gujarat is facing a troubling surge in the trade of alcohol, drugs, and cannabis (marijuana or ganja) being seized at ports, farms, and urban areas.

Over a span of three months in 2023, there have been various reports of cannabis plantations across Gujarat.

Four major drug raids took place between 2021 and 2023 at the Mundra Port. A total of 3,114 kg of drugs were seized during this period.

Adding to this, in Sept 2023, 32.5 lakh sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes worth ₹6.5 lakh cr were seized at Mundra port.

Kutch coasts have become a hotspot for drug trafficking from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Arabian Sea.

BSF and police recovered 10 packets weighing 10 kg of charas from Khidrat beyt, 10 packets of charas and one packet of heroin from Kundi beyt, and Jakhau’s Pingleshwar, 20 packets weighing 35.626 kg of charas in Aug 2023.

In another incident from Kutch, a total of 40 kg of heroin, 12 Italian pistols, 12 magazines, and 120 cartridge pistols were seized in a boat called Al-Soheli by the Gujarat ATS this October.

A Pakistan-based notorious drug dealer named Haji Salim was said to be involved in the current case.

The waves of illegal weapons had also reached cities. In Ahmedabad, an entire illegal weapon racket was busted, involving a resident of Gandhinagar and two retired Indian Army personnel.

The accused used to peddle arms and issue forged licences to people in Gujarat.

Bougies in crime

The elites of the state added to its crime tally, taking the state’s name down as they spiralled into the crime net.

The former IAS SK Langa was arrested in the state for the Mulasana land scam, where the land for cow grazing, gifted by the Patels and Muslim owners, was taken over by the government to benefit the middlemen.

Another case of an IAS eclipsing the post with their action was Anand’s former collector, DS Gadhvi, whose suspension over an obscene act got the bureaucratic bees buzzing. The case also saw the arrests of Ketki Dave and two other officials from the office who set up the trap for the collector.

In Ahmedabad, the IT department got into action in Nov 2023 when it raided builders of the city on the Science City Road with 150+ officials in a day.

In the same month, Gujarat woke up to news involving Rajiv Modi, the chairman and managing director of Cadila Pharmaceuticals. A Bulgarian-origin woman filed a petition against Modi, accusing him of sexually harassing her.

November also brought the case of assault involving AAP leader Chaitar Vasava.

Dediapada MLA Vasava was booked and is now arrested for allegedly threatening and firing a round at forest department officials.

In Morbi, a shocking incident raised concerns regarding the safety of Dalits when five accused, along with the owner of Raniba Industries, allegedly beat a Dalit with belts and shoes.

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