Former BJP MLA Jayantilal Bhanushali shot dead onboard Sayaji Nagri Express in Gujarat

Gandhinagar, Jan 8: Former BJP MLA Jayantilal Bhanushali was shot dead by unknown assailants onboard Sayji Nagri Express between Kataria-Surbari stations on Monday. Police is investigation underway.

According to reports, Bhanushali was travelling from Bhuj to Ahmedabad by the train when he was shot dead by unidentified assailants.

He was a former Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Abadasa constituency in Gujarat.

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani said, "A thorough investigation will be conducted and strict action will be taken against those guilty."

Bhanushali, who hails from Kutch district, resigned as the BJP vice-president on June 13, 2018, in the wake of the allegation of rape. Bhanushali had claimed that the charge was a conspiracy to malign his image.

The Gujarat High Court quashed the FIR filed against Bhanushali in which he had been accused of raping a 21-year-old woman from Surat multiple times. The court's decision to quash the FIR against him after the woman complainant submitted an affidavit in the court giving her consent to drop the rape case against Bhanushali and recorded her statement before the police.

He had represented Abdasa seat in Kutch district from 2007 to 2012 as the BJP MLA.