Not keen on Godmother’s son,say Porbandar cops

Jail authorities in Porbandar are apprehensive about keeping ‘Godmother’ Santokben Jadeja’s son,Kandhal Jadeja,in custody. Even as the Rajkot District Jail authorities have been ordered by the court to transfer this murder accused,notorious for fleeing,to Porbandar jail,the shifting has been delayed due to objections raised by the Porbandar police.

His entry in Porbandar jail,said the Porbandar police in a letter to the state Home Department,might spark off gang rivalry in prison. Members of other gangs opposed to the Jadejas,including the Adityana gang and Kotda gang,are also lodged in the same prison. Besides,the local police have also expressed the possibility that Kandhal’s presence in Porbandar,where the Jadejas enjoy a clout,might hamper the proceedings of the Keshu Nebha murder case going on in the Sessions Court there. Kandhal is the main accused in the case. “The leader of Adityana gang,Bhima Odedada,and two members of the Kotda gang have already been lodged in the Porbandar Special Jail. For the control over mining and transport businesses,the Jadejas have traditionally been the rivals of both gangs. The entry of Kandhal in the same jail is likely to spark rivalry within the jail premises itself,” said a senior Porbandar police officer.

Kandhal was nabbed by the Porbandar police in July 2009 from Nigadi,a town near Pune. He was brought to Porbandar and arrested and sent to Rajkot police’s custody,from where he had fled in 2007. His accomplice Raju Gada was also arrested. In 2005,Kandhal was arrested in connection with the murder of business rival and Porbandar councilor Keshu Nebha Odedara. On March 1 that year,Odedara was shot dead at Kadiya plot in Porbandar. Seven people,including Kandhal,his two brothers,Kana and Karan,Santokben,and Raju Gada were accused in the case. Santokben was later released on bail. Karan,also accused of killing Kandhal’s wife,Rekha,is lodged in the Sabarmati jail,while Kana has been absconding.

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After his arrest in 2005,Kandhal was kept in the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad for a year. From there he was shifted to the Rajkot jail in 2006. During a year in the Rajkot jail,he got himself admitted in private hospitals 23 times before fleeing from Shivani Hospital in Manhar Plot on February 2,2007.

In this regard,a case against Kandhal was registered with the Pradhyumnagar police station in Rajkot,which was later handed over to CID (crime).