'Senior cop' interfering in Gandhinagar land deal, allege Congress leaders

Days after former state Congress chief Jagdish Thakor was named in an FIR alleging a man's abduction over a land deal dispute in Gandhinagar district, Thakor and Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani demanded an investigation into the "illegal intervention" of a senior police officer in the said transaction.

At a press conference, which was also attended by advocate Anand Yagnik and two families who claimed to co-own the plot of land valued by them at approximately Rs 150 crore, Mevani said a "senior police officer" in Gandhinagar was trying to interfere in the sale, which was why he had been booked in two FIRs and Thakor, a former Congress MP, was mentioned in one.

On October 11, Mevani was booked in two FIRs, based on complaints by police officers in Gandhinagar, which charged him with rioting, obstruction of public servants, inciting communal disaffection, and violating campaign silence rules under the Representation of the People Act.

The problem, said Yagnik, was that the police, including a senior officer, were intervening in the sale process, claiming that "when such things are litigated in police stations, it must be understood that the police have the expectation of receiving something from it."

Yagnik referred to the FIR filed at Adalaj police station on October 21, wherein Ravi Thakor is accused of abducting Popatji Cheharji Thakor, the husband of Kajal Thakor. Kajal was also present at the press conference.

Kajal alleged that she had been coerced to sign the police complaint and that her husband was in hiding, and was not actually abducted. During the press conference, Yagnik also made a video call to a man who claimed to be Popatji Chehrahi Thakor, who said that he was hiding of his own accord.

Mevani mentioned a purported video made in the advocate's office where Ravi Thakor had allegedly said that on August 10, 2026, the senior police officer called him to his office "to talk about the Khoraj land" and that the officer demanded Rs11 crore to let the sale go ahead.

Babu and Sharda Thakor, co-owners of the land, were also present at the press conference with their son, who claimed that he and his father were taken to the local crime branch office of Gandhinagar police on October 23. Their phones were taken away, and the two were released after several hours.

Jagdish Thakor said that he had spoken to several legislators and BJP party leaders on the issue as well as tried to seek an audience with CM Bhupendra Patel, but had not been given an appointment till date.