Rajesh Sakariya, who assaulted Delhi CM, a 'serial offender', 'neighbourhood troublemaker'

Rajesh Bhai Khimji Bhai Sakariya, a resident of Gujarat’s Rajkot, who was arrested after he assaulted Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in the national capital on Wednesday (August 20), is a repeat offender and was out on bail in one of the cases against him, police records have revealed.

Sakariya, a 41-year-old resident of Kothariya area of Rajkot city, has five cases registered against him at Bhaktinagar police station in the city.

Violent history

“Rajesh Sakariya is known to be a violent man and has a history of beating people up in Rajkot on multiple instances. In most of these times, he had consumed alcohol and was intoxicated. He has been arrested five times between 2017 and 2024 and booked for cognizable offences under sections 323, 321, 325, 504, and 114 for beating people on several occasions,” said Jagdish Bangarwa, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Rajkot city.

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“All his cases are lodged under the Bhaktinagar Police Station in Rajkot, which has the jurisdiction over Kothariya area where he resides. In 2020, Sakariya was under preventive internment for six months in a government shelter home in Rajkot after several complaints of beating up people, causing public nuisance and damage to public property. He has also been fined under the Gujarat Prohibition Act in 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022 for consuming alcohol,” Bangarwa said.

Beat up neighbour in 2017

He was arrested for the first time in 2017 in a case of ‘voluntarily causing hurt’. However, he was acquitted in 2019 after the complainant, Sakariya ’s neighbour, took back the complaint.

“Rajesh Sakariya has been a troublemaker since he was a teenager. He would feed dogs and stray animals and care for them, but he was always fighting with everyone else around him. In 2017, he thrashed my brother for chasing away a stray dog that had attacked him. Around 10 people had to pull him away from my brother. But his mother, who always supports him, requested us to take back the complaint. Bhanuben (Sakariya’s mother) kept reiterating that Sakariya acted out of his love for animals and that he doesn’t mean harm,” said Pravin Dabhi, Sakariya ’s neighbour.

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Brawl over ‘dog temple’

Just after Sakariya was released in 2019, he was reportedly caught drunk in the city and booked under Gujarat the Prohibition Act. The same year, he was once again booked for beating up three people in Rajkot.

In June, 2020, Sakariya, an auto-rickshaw driver by profession, constructed a ‘dog temple’ in his neighbourhood. When the locals objected to the action, he got into a brawl and thrashed several people.

“He became violent every time we tried to talk him out of building the structure that he claimed would be a temple for dogs. He hired some masons and began building a structure in the middle of the road in Kothariya. He would not listen to anyone in the locality. For weeks, we had trouble navigating the lane because of the structure. We even approached his family, but in vain. After several episodes of violence, we complained about it to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) who came one night and demolished the illegally-constructed structure. Sakariya was furious at this and began to visit the office of the RMC and create a ruckus every day. He was then kept in a government shelter in Rajkot for six months. Later, he was released on the request of his family,” Jigneshbhai, another neighbour of Sakariya told The Federal.

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Has angry outbursts, beaten me too: Mother

In 2022, Sakariya was again booked under the Gujarat Prohibition Act and for creating public nuisance. The case is still pending before the second additional civil judge and the judicial magistrate in Rajkot civil court. He was out on bail.

In 2024, Sakariya was arrested for the fifth time for voluntarily causing hurt, but got bail later.

Sakariya’s mother, Bhanuben, says he often has angry episodes at home and attacks family members including her and his wife. This, she says, is a manifestation of his poor mental health, for which the family has been unable to treat him due to lack of money.

“Rajesh is an auto-rickshaw driver. His mental health has not been good, but we have not been able to afford to take him for treatment. He often has bouts of angry outbursts during which he attacks family members, including his wife. He has beaten me several times. However, he never harms people outside the family,” Bhanuben told The Federal.

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The only positive aspect about his character is his love for animals, especially dogs.

“He loves animals, especially dogs. He has always taken care of strays and even got them treated. He usually behaves nicely with neighbours unless he feels an animal is in danger. Then he gets violent,” added Bhanuben.