Five of family hacked to death over old enmity in Kutch

RAJKOT: Five persons of a family were brutally hacked to death in Hamirpur village, 27 km from Rapar town of Kutch, as the simmering animosity between two communities came to a boil on Saturday.
The victims, who were returning from their farm in an SUV, were waylaid on the narrow interior road by the assailants who came in two tractors. One tractor intercepted the SUV while another drove behind the car so that the victims could not take a reverse and escape. Once they were trapped, over a dozen people armed with machetes and other sharp-edged weapons launched a brutal assault on the five men, leaving four of them dead on the spot, said police. The fifth person died on way to hospital.
Three other family members of the victims who were also travelling in the SUV somehow managed to escape and reach their village, screaming for help. However, by the time others could reach, the assailants had escaped from there leaving five in pool of blood.
The victims were identified as Akha Jesang Umat (38), his son 18-year-old Lala, brother Amra Umat (30), brother-in-law (Akha’s sister’s husband) Petha Rathod (37) and cousin brother Vela Umat (37). Akha was the head of the family that was into farming.
The assailants are from the Koli community while victims are Rajputs. Police officials said that a land dispute as well as illegal country liquor trafficking were the main reasons behind the animosity between them. Talking to reporters, Parikshita Rathod, superintendent of police, Kutch (East) said “The attackers were engaged in the illegal business of selling country-made liquor. They suspected that Umat’s family members were tipping off police about their activity.”
However, border range IG, Subhash Trivedi said the murders were a fallout of a dispute over an agriculture land in possession of the victims.
"The accused had claimed the ownership over the land which was in the name of one Dhanjibhai and others. A police complaint regarding this was also registered three years ago. They murdered the five persons to get the possession of this land,” said Trivedi, virtually ruling out liquor trafficking as the reason.
The tension between the families was brewing over the last 2-3 of days. Police sources said that they had come face-toface two days ago too, but a compromise struck. In fact, sensing trouble, police had even beefed up security in and around the villages of Rapar. KG Zala, deputy SP, Rapar, said, “Several teams have been formed to nab the assailants.” Teams of local crime branch (LCB), special operations group (SOG) and all police sub-inspectors of Bhachau police station have been dispatched in different directions to trace the accused.