Builder survives bid on his life near Jamnagar

Rajkot: The case involving Jayesh Ranparia, an accused in multi-crore land scams, took a new turn on Friday when he allegedly sent three henchmen to fire two rounds at a builder near Lalpur bypass on the outskirts of Jamnagar on Friday morning.
The builder, Girish Der (50), however, retaliated by firing upon the three assailants in Krishna Park Society, said police. The trio had arrived on two bikes at Der’s construction site and opened fire at him.
“After the bullets failed to hit their target, two of the henchmen ran towards Der to attack him with a hammer and iron pipe. In his defence, Der fired three rounds from his licensed revolver, but even he missed the aim. Thereafter, the assailants sped away on their bikes,” said K K Gohil, sub-inspector with Jamnagar crime branch.
Der later lodged a complaint blaming Ranparia, who is allegedly involved in the murder of advocate Kirit Joshi, to be behind the sinister attempt on his life. He accused Ranparia of sending Hardik Pujara, his aide who had stabbed Joshi to death below Jyot Tower opposite Town Hall in Jamnagar on the night of April 28, 2018.
Joshi was fighting cases against Ranparia for his involvement in land scams worth more than Rs 150 crore. Before the murder, Ranparia had fled to Dubai.
In another incident that took place on November 15, 2019, Ranparia had also allegedly ordered his men to open fire on the house and car of Parshottam Rajani, a professor with Jamnagar Mahila College, after the latter refused to cough up Rs 1 crore as an extortion sum.
Rajani had acted as an agent in the sale of plots in Krishna Park Society to which Ranparia had staked his claim. After the murder of Joshi, Ranparia had circulated a message in Jamnagar that whoever tried to sell off any plot in Krishna Park Society would be killed.
Der had bought some plots in Krishna Park Society from Mahesh Varotaria and had started the construction work against the wishes of Ranparia. Harbouring a grudge against him, Ranparia carried out an attack on him.
Police booked Ranparia under sections 307 (attempt to murder) 120 (B) (pre-planned conspiracy) 25 (1) (Arms Act) of Indian Penal Code.