Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel detained ahead of hunger strike
AHMEDABAD: Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and his supporters were detained by the Gujarat police on Sunday ahead of their symbolic hunger strike in Ahmedabad’s Nikol area, police said. Incidents of stone pelting and road blockade were also reported in Surat hours after Hardik’s detention. Surat police said they had detained 30 people in connection with the violence.
Hardik (26) had announced to a day-long fast for Sunday after his plea to allot an open plot in Nikol to hold a protest from August 25 did not evoke any response from the administration. Hardik had last month announced that he would not eat until his two demands – OBC status to Patidars and farm loan waiver – are met.
The crime branch registered an FIR against Hardik and eight others under sections 143 (Unlawful assembly) and 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the IPC, said crime branch DCP Deepan Bhadran. He was later released on bail. Minutes before his detention, Patel said “...Why is the BJP so nervous that hundreds of policemen have been sent to my home and several of my supporters have been detained...”
“Hardik and his supporters were detained as they started gathering for the event for which permission was not given,” said a senior police officer.
“... What can be said if a person is not allowed to protest peacefully,” said Congress MLA Lalit Vasoya, a former member of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti.