AHMEDABAD: One year after the Una atrocity in which dalits were flogged by self-styled ‘gau rakshaks’, it has come to light that the entire incident was ‘a pre-planned conspiracy to instil fear among dalit skinners and make them shun their cattle skinning trade’. Police, however, have not explained the motive behind the conspiracy to instil fear among dalits.The incident on July 11, 2016 in which four youths of Sarvaiya family were brutally thrashed, shook the conscience of the nation and gave birth to a movement for dalit rights in Gujarat.The police chargesheet submitted in Una court states that people associated with the NGO, ‘Sanatan Trust’, intended to put an end by use of force to dalits’ trade of skinning dead animals. The ‘cow vigilantes’ also wanted to send out a false message across the state that dalits were involved in cow slaughter. This would ensure that the dalits were looked on with contempt in society.Incidentally, the chargesheet was submitted last year but the document has become public this year.“To meet their goal, one of the accused, Shantilal Monpara (trustee of Sanatan Trust), called a secret meeting with other accused persons Shailesh Bambhania, Rahul Parmar, Dipak Shiyal and Pramodgiri Goswami.Monpara decided that if some dalit was found skinning a cow or cow progeny, then members of the trust or their associates will reach the spot. “They will spread the false message that dalits had indulged in cow slaughter, brutalize the dalits and then spread the story of their brutalization in the entire Una town,” the chargesheet states.“The trust also decided that dalit skinners, whenever caught with a dead cow or cow progeny, would be paraded half-naked in the marketplace,” the chargesheet says.“The intention of the trust was to instil fear among dalit skinners so that they would stop their traditional trade of skinning," the report said.Ironically, the NGO ‘Sanatan Trust’ was registered with the objective of development of socially and financially underprivileged communities.“The aim of this trust was to raise the social status of socially and financially deprived persons without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creeds, community, birthplace or gender,” the police report states. On July 11 last year, four dalit youths named Ashok, Ramesh, Vashram and Bechar Sarvaiya, were flogged by self-styled cow vigilantes in public allegedly for cow slaughter.The video of their brutal thrashing went viral and triggered shock and horror and led to widespread protests across India. After the attack, the Sarvaiya family has given up skinning. Ironically, they were earlier given a loan of Rs 50,000 under a government scheme to promote cottage industry.Police arrested a total of 32 persons in the case, including police personnel and office-bearers of the trust. Out of those arrested, at least five are still behind bars and the rest are out on bail.