Vadodara: Babar Pathan, the prime accused in the murder of Tapan Parmar — the son of a former BJP councillor — had allegedly earlier attacked a BJP member, Parth Purohit, who is now president of the city unit of the BJP's youth wing.
While an offence was not registered at the time, Purohit had got his hands on Pathan's phone and had given it to the police. He alleged that the phone had contained lots of material incriminating Pathan.
The incident in question took place in Karelibaug in 2018 when Purohit and another man were arguing after a road accident. Purohit did not hold any prominent post in the party at that time. Pathan was near where the arguments were taking place.
According to Purohit, Pathan had seemingly been keeping an eye on the area to find someone. "When we started arguing, he rushed to us and attacked us. He was also carrying a bladed weapon then. CCTV footage of the incident was also available at the time," Purohit said.
In the commotion, Pathan dropped his phone, which Purohit got his hands on. While Purohit did not register an offence, he had given Pathan's phone to investigators along with detailed notes on the videos, audios and photos on it. This included transcripts of conversations between Pathan and others. The material disclosed a lot about Pathan's activities and connections.