Gujarat: Dalit man's thumb chopped off after...

A group of people allegedly assaulted a Dalit man and chopped off his thumb after his nephew picked up a cricket ball during a match at a school playground in Gujarat's Patan district, police said.

The incident took place in Kakoshi village in the district on Sunday, an official said.

According to the first information report (FIR), the accused got angry and threatened the boy who had picked up the ball while watching a cricket match at a school playground in the village, he said.

They also allegedly hurled casteist slurs with the intention to insult and intimidate members of the Dalit community, the official said.

When the boy's uncle Dhiraj Parmar objected to this, the matter was settled for the time being, he said.

However, later that evening, a group of seven men armed with sharp weapons assaulted the complainant Dhiraj and his brother Kirti, the official said.

One of the accused chopped off Kirti's thumb and injured him seriously, he said.

An FIR has been registered under Sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), the official said.

Efforts are on to apprehend the accused, he added.