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Babubhai Patel, known by his alias Babu Bajrangi, was the leader of the
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
-wing of
Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...
, a Hindutva organisation in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. He was a central figure during the
2002 Gujarat violence The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence or the Gujarat pogrom, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which ca ...
. He was sentenced to life term imprisonment by a special court for his role in masterminding the
Naroda Patiya massacre The Naroda Patiya massacre took place on 28 February 2002 at Naroda, in Ahmedabad, India, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. 97 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people, organised by the Bajrang Dal, a wing of the Vishva Hindu ...
in which 97 Muslims were murdered including 36 women, 26 men and 35 children. The
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...
granted him bail on medical grounds in March 2019.


Role in 2002 riots

In 2007, the Indian journal ''
Tehelka ''Tehelka'' () is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and another colleague ...
'' published a hidden-camera interview with Bajrangi, in which Bajrangi speaks candidly of his role in the violence against Muslims in the
Naroda Patiya massacre The Naroda Patiya massacre took place on 28 February 2002 at Naroda, in Ahmedabad, India, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. 97 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people, organised by the Bajrang Dal, a wing of the Vishva Hindu ...
, a particularly intense episode of brutality during the 2002 Gujarat riots: In the video, Bajrangi claimed that after the killings, he called the home minister Gordhan Zadaphia and the VHP General Secretary
Jaideep Patel Jaideep Patel (or Jaydeep Patel) is a medical doctor who runs a pathology lab in Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat in India. He served as the Gujarat state general secretary for Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist organisation, during the 20 ...
, and told them about the killings. After a few hours, an
FIR Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
was lodged against him, and the police commissioner issued orders to shoot him at sight. He was later arrested, and released on bail. He was out on bail at the time of the Tehelka interview. He also claimed
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
changed judges three times to ensure that he was released from jail, as the first two judges wanted to sentence Bajrangi to hanging for his heinous crimes. In 2012, he was convicted in the Naroda Patiya massacre case along with
Maya Kodnani Maya Surendrakumar Kodnani is a former Minister of State for Women and Child Development in the Government of Gujarat. Kodnani joined the 12th legislative assembly of Gujarat after being elected to represent the constituency of Naroda as a ca ...
and thirty other accused. All thirty-two of the accused were found guilty of murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy, spreading enmity and communal hatred and unlawful assembly. On 31 August 2012, Bajrangi was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
. However, he continues to be out of jail on bail. As of 2016, Bajrangi had been granted temporary bail 14 times on the pretext of his wife's and his own poor health. After claiming to have developed partial blindness and deafness, Bajrangi was given an attendant (bodyguard) in
Sabarmati Central Jail Sabarmati Central Jail is the main prison in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. It was established in 1895. Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial natio ...
. On 7 March 2019, the Supreme Court of India also granted bail to Babu Bajrangi, after the Gujarat government informed the Supreme Court, in reply to a bail plea that Bajrangi had filed last year, that he was in bad shape. The state told the court that Bajrangi has allegedly suffered complete vision loss, besides various other ailments.


Other activities

Babu Bajrangi also runs a trust called ''Navchetan trust'', which as per his claims saves the girls who run out of their home and marry outside their community. In a report of the ''Frontline'' magazine it was claimed that his organisation use intimidation and violence to forcibly end the marriages done outside the community. As per this reports and his claims he had prevented more than 700 girls from such inter caste marriages.


In popular culture

* L2: Empuraan is a 2025 Malayalam movie which is loosely based on the 2002 riots. One of the antagonistic characters in the film is named "Baba Bajrangi", which some viewers have interpreted as an allusion to
Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...
leader Babu Bajrangi, a convicted figure involved in the
2002 Gujarat riots The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence or the Gujarat pogrom, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The Godhra train burning, burning of a train in Godhra on 27 Fe ...
who was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the
Naroda Patiya massacre The Naroda Patiya massacre took place on 28 February 2002 at Naroda, in Ahmedabad, India, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. 97 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people, organised by the Bajrang Dal, a wing of the Vishva Hindu ...
. Following criticism , the film was later edited with 24 cuts and the antagonist's name was changed to Baldev.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajrangi, Babu Living people Gujarat politicians 2002 Gujarat riots Hindutva Bajrang Dal members Year of birth missing (living people) Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Indian people convicted of murder Hindu nationalists Hinduism-motivated violence in India Indian crime bosses Hindu terrorism