The panches or leaders of his tribe are bargaining for money from Demti - just because his body happened to be found near that village. The post-mortem report says the death was accidental: a drunken Bhadubhai was doddering along when he fell into an unwalled well, level with the ground.

But that doesn't hold water with the panches. In tribal Sabarkantha, the custom is that when any unnatural death takes place - be it by accident, murder or even suicide - leaders of the dead man's community lead a band armed with bows and arrows, spears, axes and sticks to the village near which his body is found. This siege of sorts is called charotani. The dead man's family doesn't grieveeither - that waits till the bargaining for money is over.

Talks are held, usually in the presence of the police. If it fails, the invaders declare ver or enmity. This means that people of that village will be killed. The village will retaliate and the enmity will live on.

Police are helpless. The tribals are stubborn and till a settlement is reached, police officers posted in the area are on edge. Experience has taught them not to use force; the tribals' arrows are sharp, their aim accurate. Influential tribal politicians, too, insist that the police let tribals solve the problem their way.

So, as the air thrums with the buzz of flies around Bhadubhai's corpse and some 50 policemen stand guard, most of them with handkerchiefs tied around their faces, the old chieftains squat stolidly near Demti. All the police can do is wait. Villagers spoke of how one body had lain untended for 65 days before a settlement was reached.

Here is the chronicle of Bhadubhai's death. On June 10, 55-year-oldBhadubhai, patriarch to 11 children and grandchildren, was contracted by a man of Gavpipal village in Rajasthan (close to the Gujarat border) to transport some bamboo on his camel to Dantad village. After off-loading the cargo, Bhadubhai is said to have got drunk in Lambadia. At night, he walked along Demti village and fell into the well of Hirabhai Velabhai Parmar, also a tribal.

On June 12, the police was called and the body was taken to Khedbrahma civil hospital. After post-mortem, it was kept in the morgue till Bhadubhai's relatives reached the hospital and identified it.

Here begins a tale straight out of a magic-realist novel. First, the tribals of Bhadubhai's Jotasan objected to the removal of the body from where it was found. The unrelenting tribals forced the police to show them where the body was found, and put it there. At the same time, a 2,000-strong mob of armed tribals from Jotasan laid siege to Demti. The village lies deserted now.

A police force was rushed to avoid trouble. And thenbegan the endless sittings of the community leaders of both sides. First the blood money was pegged at Rs 5 lakh, which then came down to Rs 3 lakh. Though it was not a murder, the panches of Jotasan argued that Bhadubhai had died because ``the people of Demit had dug the well''. Several rounds of talks failed.

The problem got more complicated. Jotasan villagers then started demanding that even Gavpipal and Dantad villages pay compensation. The reason: because Bhadubhai had taken the contract from Gavpipal and gone to Dantad, both the villages were equally guilty.

Initially, demit, Gavpipal and Dantad showed willingness to pay money. But they suddenly backed out, saying that it would mean admitting that they were at fault.

The fields near Demti look like a battlefield of old: armed Jotasan tribals baying for rivals' kept in check by police on one hand and senseless talks by groups of panches on the other. Interestingly, the warring factions call a cease-fire at sunset. They return the nextmorning to bargain through the day.

DSP Anil Pratham said Jotasan tribals now want police to register an FIR against two persons of Demti village. ``We are filing an FIR. I think the tribals will agree to cremate the body,'' he said. However, he ruled out any possibility of murder.

And what will happen with the compensation money that is paid? The dead man's family will get some Rs 5,000, say locals. The rest? The panches

keep it, as they have been traditionally doing so. However, the day the body is cremated, the villagers will get a feast. Usually, a bull is slaughtered and the meat distributed to everyone.