Gandhinagar: Malpur town in North Gujarat observed a day-long strike during which all businesses and markets remained shut. The strike call was given to protest the brutal attack on a shop owner, Dineshbhai Muljibhai Patel, by two bootleggers linked to the illegal liquor trade.

The accused in this case are identified as Dinesh alias Buchho Babubhai Pagi and Dharmendra alias Dhamo alias Rocky Somabhai Pagi. Both accused thrashed the shop owner, Dinesh Patel, using a steel pipe and a chair. When Patel’s partner, Dhrupalbhai Haribhai Patel, and neighbor, Pravinbhai Patel, tried to intervene, they were also beaten up by the accused Pagis.

CCTV footage of this incident went viral, and a police complaint was filed against the two accused at Malpur police station. A large number of  traders visited the local police station and presented a memorandum in which they stated that liquor dens have been operating in Malpur without fear for a long time, and bootleggers involved in the illegal liquor trade have become uncontrollable. This is affecting the peace of Malpur. They demanded that the liquor dens be shut down effectively and that the accused who attacked the shop owner be arrested promptly.DeshGujarat