The family alleged that police did not follow proper legal procedure. (Photo: Amrit Mewada)

PALANPUR: The anger over Patidar man's alleged custodial death in Mehsana showed no signs of abating with family members of the deceased Ketan Patel even as the second postmortem was conducted at the civil hospital on Friday evening.

The second PM was done following orders of orders of judicial magistrate MB Bajpai .

The OBCs and Dalits also came forward to show their solidarity with the community with Alpesh Thakore , convener of OBC, SC, ST Ekta Manch and Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, meeting Ketan's family members followed by members of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch .

His father Mahendra Patel, Visnagar MLA P I Patel and Congress leader Kirit Patel began a fast-unto-death along with nearly 40 other supporters outside the civil hospital on Friday. Large number of Patidars, including women, stay put at the civil hospital and poignant scenes were witnessed as Ketan's mother and cousin sisters frequently broke down. His aunt (father's sister) Sushila Patel also fainted and had to be admitted.

"It is a clear case of police taking law in hands and the culprits must be punished. If he had stolen something, police should have conducted a proper legal procedure," Thakore said.

Thakore also questioned the silence of deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who rep resents Mehsana in the state assembly, and junior home minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja.“Thefts are rampant across the state, be it physical or scams in various government schemes.Will all the culprits be punished like this?,“ he said.

Mehsana superintendent of police, Chaitanya Mandlik, said that the family has still not turned up to lodge an FIR.When asked if police themselves can become the complainant, Mandlik said, "Technically we can. If judicial officer directs after completing the inquiry, we will lodge the FIR even if Ketan's family doesn't."

