Ajmer: A special court under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, in Nagaur district’s Merta Wednesday acquitted all 40 accused in the 2015 Dangawas killings, which resulted in the deaths of six individuals, including five Dalits, three of whom were allegedly crushed under tractors.The accused faced charges of violently attacking Dalit families to force them off a 23-bigha plot of land in Dangawas village of Nagaur. The court, however, noted that the prosecution failed to provide concrete evidence of guilt against the accused, who had been charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).Even though the prosecution presented 82 witnesses during the trial, and the complainant in the case brought forward an additional eight, the court found that most of them could not identify the accused.“The court found that the CBI had failed to do a thorough investigation and the prosecution was unable to prove the case against any of those charged,” an advocate for the accused said.Following the decision, prosecution advocate Mahipal Lottiyan said, “We will read the detailed decision, seek legal advice and challenge the acquittals in high court”.Defense advocate Mahendra Choudhary said the CBI’s investigation was faulty and the agency arrested the wrong persons in the case. “The CBI failed to get to the root cause of the incident, and many of the 40 named as accused in the case were not involved,” he said.A sizeable crowd was gathered outside the Merta court Wednesday, with cheers erupting from some among them as the verdict was announced.The Dangawas incident of May 14, 2015, was triggered by a land dispute between two communities that escalated into violence and resulted in six fatalities. Fourteen others, including six women, were injured in the incident.The violent confrontation of the day involved firearms, axes and sticks, with many vehicles being torched in the chaos.The incident shook the state, prompting widespread protests at the violence directed against Dalits over a land dispute. The case was subsequently handed over to the CBI, with the accused in the case surrendering after a high court intervention following years of delay in the investigation.Case ChronologyMay 16: Dalit rights organisation calls for a CBI probe into the incident; case handed over to CBI later that monthOct 2019: Raj HC expresses concern over slow-moving trial, orders police to expedite arrest of absconding suspectsAug 5, 2026: Trial court acquits all 40 accused
