BABU BAJRANGI

Babu Patel, alias Babu Bajrangi, prime accused in the Naroda Patiya riot case, was always notorious. He was a Bajrang Dal leader who wore his Hindu chauvinism on his sleeves. He was known to threaten non-Hindu men who tried to marry Hindu girls (he apparently ran an NGO called Navchetan for this). Bajrangi brainwashed Hindu girls, sometimes with an iron hand, and sent them back to their parents.

On February 28, 2002, a day after the horror of the Godhra train carnage, Babu Bajrangi became the self-appointed commander of the gang of butchers at Naroda Patiya on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. A local Bajrang Dal leader marshalled a murderous mob drawn from VHP and Dal cadres. He spread a message among bloodthirsty mob that by killing Muslims they were doing a great service to Hinduism.

It was a dreadful day for humanity. A mob led by Bajrangi and local BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani (she was forced to resign as a minister after a chargesheet was filed against her) went on a rampage in Naroda Patiya, hunting down Muslims.

In September 2007, Bajrangi was caught in a sting operation claiming: "I have just one wish… one last wish… Let me be sentenced to death… I don’t want to be behind bars… I don’t care if I am hanged… Give me two days before my hanging and I will go and have a field day in the Muslim-dominated area of Ahmedabad, Juhapura, where seven or eight lakh of these people stay… I will finish them off…"

For many years Bajrangi roamed free, under the political shelter of the  Gujarat government. After the Supreme Court's intervention, he was arrested, but not for long. He was granted bail and continues to roam free. Recently, a former investigation officer of the Naroda Patiya case, KK Mysorewala, identified Bajrangi as one of the accused. Gujarat CM Narendra Modi eventually forced him out of Bajrang Dal. Today he maintains a low profile, and one resident of Naroda said on condition of anonymity: “Nobody knows about his activities or businesses, but it is said that he is continuing with his 'mission' of 'saving' Hindu girls from boys of other communities.”

When TSI tried to reach him through a local youth, he made himself scarce. But we persisted only to learn he was in court.