HARDIK GETS TWO-YEAR JAIL TERM IN RIOTS CASE
Mehsana, July 25: A Gujarat court on Wednesday sentenced Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and two of his aides to two years imprisonment in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town here in July 2015. Later, Hardik was granted bail by the same court later.
Mehsana (Guj), July 25: A Gujarat court sentenced Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and two others to two years imprisonment in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town here in July 2015.
Later, Mr Hardik Patel and his two aides, Mr Lalji Patel and Mr A.K. Patel, were granted bail by the same court.
Visnagar sessions court judge V.P. Agarwal held the three guilty under IPC sections pertaining to rioting, arson, damage to property and unlawful assembly.
The three were awarded two years imprisonment along with a fine of `50,000 each, which the trio deposited in the court.
The other 14 accused were let off for want of evidence.
From the penalty collection of `1.5 lakh, the court ordered that `10,000 be given to TV channel reporter Suresh Vanol, `1 lakh to the owner of a car torched by the mob during violence and `40,000 to local BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel, towards damage caused to his property.
Mr Hardik Patel, 25, was one of the accused in the FIR which was filed in Mehsana district on July 23, 2015, when a rally of the Patel community seeking reservation turned violent in Visnagar, resulting in damage to property and assault on some media persons.
During the agitation, the mob had torched a car and vandalised the office of the local BJP.
A rally of more than 25,000 people of the community demanding reservation was then at the initial stage of the quota movement in Gujarat.
At that time, Mr Hardik Patel was not a known figure and was one of the foot soldiers of Mr Lalji Patel, who is the president of the Sardar Patel Group (SPG), a quota agitation body.
The rally in Visnagar was the first prominent event of the quota movement when Hardik Patel came into limelight. When the rally reached near the office of MLA Patel, some Patidar community members tried to meet him to hand over a memorandum of their demands.