3 Gujarat villagers playing cards flee mistaking visitors for police, drown in well

Three men died late on Monday after falling into an open well while fleeing what they believed was a police raid on a late-night card game in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district, police said.Police said the incident took place in Ukharla village in Ghogha taluka. (Wikicommons)The victims were identified by the police as Rahul Popatbhai Chauhan, 35; Nilesh Dabhi, 37; and Ajitsinh, 45. A fourth man who fell into the well survived.Police said the incident took place in Ukharla village in Ghogha taluka.Bhavnagar superintendent of police (SP) Nitesh Pandey said around 11 men had gathered to play cards in a field of the village when an unidentified vehicle approached. Fearing police officers were about to conduct a raid, the players ran in the dark, and some fell into an open agricultural well.“They thought it was the police and ran. There was a well in the field and they couldn’t see it in the dark. Three persons have died,” Pandey said, underlining that the police hadn’t conducted a raid in the village.The bodies were found by the police on Tuesday morning after the control room received a call reporting a body. Police officials said a search was carried out with the help of villagers, and three bodies were found in the well.At the hospital, family members of the victims said the deaths occurred due to a police raid.Pandey reiterated that there was nothing on record to indicate such a raid. “So far there is no gambling case or on-record case. No offence has been registered, and there is no mention that there was a raid by any police,” he said, adding that an investigation was underway to identify who had showed up at the spot last night.The police officer said whoever confronted the group had used abusive words telling them not to run, something that would not have happened in a police raid. “If it was really the police, there wouldn’t be a warning like that,” Pandey said adding that this account is based on statements from those present.Card games are a common sight in Gujarat’s villages during the Shravan month, in the run-up to Janmashtami festival.