Rajkot: A 37-year-old man was brutally hacked to death by a group of around nine persons in Sethli village of Botad district on Sunday night.The murder of Ashok Detroja sparked massive outrage among the Patidar community with hundreds gathering at the Botad police station in the night. Initially, the family refused to accept his body unless the killers were arrested. However, on Monday afternoon, he was cremated in the village after police lodged an offence of murder against the nine persons.While the local Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members alleged that Detroja was killed by bootleggers as he had tipped off police about liquor trafficking in the village, police dismissed the claims as baseless.Botad police said that some financial dispute had led to his murder. "The assailants thrashed the deceased with pipes, sticks and axes on the fringes of the village. He died on the spot," said an investigating officer.Following a complaint lodged by the victim's father Avsar Detroja, police booked Vajsur Dhangal, his brother Uday, Kalu Dhanga, Vastupola, all natives of Refada village but living in Sethli and some unidentified persons. They were booked for murder and rioting.Detroja's father said that Vastupola had borrowed Rs 25,000 from his son few months ago. There were scuffles between the two as Ashok was asking him to return the money, said C B Gamit, investigating officer at Botad.

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