Haren Pandya was the Home Minister of Gujarat in India.
13 Facts About Haren Pandya
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2.
Haren Pandya was allegedly murdered in 2003 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, when he was sitting in his car, after a morning walk in the Law Garden area in Ahmedabad.
3.
Haren Pandya represented the Ellis Bridge constituency of Ahmedabad City as a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator.
4.
Haren Pandya was a member of the RSS from his early age and was a Municipal Councillor from the Paldi Area of Ahmedabad City.
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Pandya was a strong supporter of Keshubhai Patel, and in 1998, after the BJP came to power in Gujarat with Keshubhai as Chief Minister, Pandya was made Home Minister.
6.
Haren Pandya was appointed Minister of State for revenue after Narendra Modi took over as the Chief Minister; however, he resigned from the post in August 2002.
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Haren Pandya was the only person able to arrange meetings between victims' family members and Muslim leaders for peace talks, but he was shouted down at the meeting by some ministers.
8.
On 19 August 2002, Haren Pandya again spoke to the magazine, according to Outlook, and reiterated what he had said earlier, with the additional comment that if his identity as the source of this information were to be revealed, then he would be killed.
9.
The second conversation with Haren Pandya was recorded by the magazine.
10.
On 26 March 2003, at about 7:40 am, Haren Pandya was killed by two unidentified assailants who shot five bullets at him when he had just finished his morning walk in the Law Gardens in Ahmedabad.
11.
Haren Pandya's family started worrying when he did not return home and sent his personal assistant Nilesh Bhatt to check on him.
12.
On 29 August 2011, all the 12 people accused of murdering Haren Pandya were acquitted of the murder charges by the Gujarat High Court, but other charges including criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder were retained.
13.
In police terminology, the Haren Pandya case has been called a "cut-out murder" in which it is not possible to establish the link between the victim and the conspirator or motivator of the crime.