Digant Maheriya, a 16-year-old Dalit resident of Limbodara village in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, was allegedly attacked on 3 October by upper caste assailants. On 25 September, his cousin Piyush Parmar had been assaulted by local Rajputs, allegedly for sporting a moustache.

But in a sensational statement on Friday, Gandhinagar superintendent of police Virendra Singh claimed that the attack on Digant Maheriya was staged by the Dalits themselves. This, even as Dalits across the state continued their protest against the violence by flooding social media with pictures of their moustaches.

The police argued that a forensic team had found no blade at the spot and neither could the investigators trace any attackers or their vehicles. The cops further stated that the owner of a local pan shop had also told them that he saw no such crime.

Also Read: Dalit Men Twirl Mustaches Online to Protest Gujarat Attacks