3 min readAhmedabadApr 30, 2026 02:00 AM IST
“WE WERE asked to bring our own plates and glasses and sit to eat separately prepared food after the others had taken dinner, and were asked not to go to the temple itself,” 25-year-old Ajay Chatur Boricha, who has filed a complaint against five persons of other castes on charges of “practicing untouchability”, claimed on Wednesday. Police said they have launched a probe into the allegations, adding that five persons have been booked in the case.
Boricha is among several members of the Dalit community, residents of Bhutdi village in Visavadar taluka of Junagadh, who have levelled allegations against villagers from other castes who were part of the organising committee for the consecration of a temple dedicated to Lord Ram in the village scheduled for Wednesday (April 29) evening.
DySP Ravirajsinh Parmar said, “We have taken the statements of the complainant and other witnesses as primary facie, the case is based on the claims of the people involved on both sides. We have issued notices under BNSS 35(3) to all the accused to appear before the police and give their statements. We are also trying to see if any digital evidence is available in this case.”
While the pran pratishtha (consecration) took place on Wednesday, the village get-together and dinner was cancelled.
The allegations arose out of an invitation extended to the Dalit community in Bhutdi by the organisers and the “conditions” allegedly spelled out to them vis-a-vis their participation in the dinner.
An FIR was filed at Visavadar police station, on the basis of a complaint by Ajay Boricha, who claimed that several members of the Scheduled Caste community were present in the village around 5 pm on April 27, when the “derogatory, conditional invitation” was extended to them.
The FIR said, “The five organisers (accused) arrived in our lane around 5 pm on April 27 and ten persons of our community were sitting there. The organisers told us that a dinner had been planned on April 29 evening.”
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Boricha claimed that the organisers said, “We are giving you an invitation to the dinner for the pran pratishtha of the temple but you must come after the people of other castes have finished eating and you all must bring your own plates and bowls. Your food and water has been arranged separately.”
Several members of the Dalit community approached the Visavadar police station on April 28 and filed the complaint. The same was converted into an FIR. The investigation was handed to DySP Ravirajsinh Parmar of the SC/ST Cell of Junagadh Police.
The five accused organisers, Babu Uka Hapani, Narendra Bhanji Siroya, Ramnik Samji Sorathiya, Atul Bhikha Siroya, and Fula Popat Siroya, were booked under BNS sections 196(2) (promoting enmity between groups (religion, race, language, etc) and 54 (abettor present), apart from sections 3(1)r, 3(1)zaA, and 3(1)zaC of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, that deal with intentional insults or humiliation caused to a member of the SC of ST.
