Gujarat encounters probe: Families depose before monitoring body

Families members and friends of the alleged gangsters who were killed in "encounters" in the state after 2002 recorded their statements before Justice (retd) H S Bedi in Gandhinagar Monday. This was the first-ever deposition before an investigation agency in the 16 encounter cases, which are being probed.

Ten persons, including one lodged in the Sabarmati central jail appeared before Justice Bedi for individual interaction, representing eight of the 16 encounter cases.

A Special Task Force (STF) officer said, "The families stated that the encounter victims were innocent and fell prey to encounters because they either did not cater to the police's demands or had become a problem because they knew about several illegal deals and extortion bids."

They families reportedly stated that these men were used as "informer" by suspended police officer Abhay Chudasama and were then eliminated.

Those killed in these 16 "encounters" were allegedly gangsters or petty criminals who were operational in

the early 2000s in Ahmedabad, Saurashtra and south Gujarat.

Contractor pays workers after labour officials intervene

A group of 41 construction workers from Dahod district who were denied their salaries were paid Rs 90,000 Monday following the intervention of labour department officials.

The workers, all from the Bhil tribe and 14 of whom were women, had been working as masons and unskilled labourers at a construction site in Radhe Kandan, Mehsana, for about a month and a half. But the contractor who had hired them for the builder had allegedly backtracked on their payments last week.

The workers arrived in Ahmedabad Wednesday, seeking help from a trade union. On Saturday, the union filed an application with Deputy Labour Commissioner M V Jadeja, who on Monday directed a local labour officer to look into the matter. "My officer sat down with workers and employers in Mehsana and after hearing both parties, the employers gave the workers Rs 75,000 on the spot and promised to give the remaining amount within two or three days," said Jadeja.

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