# Gujarat boy murdered over land dispute amid witchcraft allegations 2026-08-26T04:33:28+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A nine-year-old boy was abducted and killed by a neighbour in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district after a land dispute escalated. The accused, Savanji Thakor, allegedly kidnapped the child and dumped his body in a well. Police recovered the remains the following day. The boy's family, from the Devipura village, had accused Thakor of threatening them over a plot of agricultural land. During interrogation, the accused reportedly claimed the child was killed because the family practised witchcraft. Investigators have not publicly confirmed any evidence of such practices. A case of kidnapping and murder has been registered. Thakor remains in police custody. The trial court will hear the matter next after the investigation concludes. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, land disputes in tribal belts of Gujarat have been rising. The Gujarat High Court has earlier noted delays in settling claims under this Act. In this case, the victim's family allegedly had a pending land title claim against the accused. The state government's district revenue office, not the police, holds the records that determine who legally owns the plot. The next hearing in the trial court, where the prosecution will present forensic evidence, is expected in December. ## Coverage - ndtv.com Led with confession details from police, without independent victim side claim This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Forest Rights Act, Gujarat High Court, Gujarat Police, Sabarkantha Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-boy-murdered-over-land-dispute-amid-witchcraft-allegations/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-boy-murdered-over-land-dispute-amid-witchcraft-allegations/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/