Hardik gets two years in jail for 2015 rioting
mehsana (gujarat) — A Gujarat court sentenced Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel to two years imprisonment in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town here in 2015.
Judge V P Agarwal, of the sessions court at Visnagar, held Hardik Patel and his two aides, Lalji Patel and A K Patel, 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 Rs50,000 each.
The other 14 accused were let off by the court for want of enough evidence against them.
Hardik Patel is one of the accused in the FIR which was filed at Visnagar in Mehsana district on July 23, 2015, when a rally of the Patel community seeking reservation turned violent, resulting in damage to property and assault on some media persons.
During the violent agitation, the mob had torched a car and vandalised the office of local BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel.
In early July, Hardik announced that he would sit on an indefinite fast from August 25 to press for reservation to the community members in government jobs and
education. In his video post on the Facebook he said that getting reservation for his community was his primary concern.
He added that the fast would be his last fight.
“This is our last fight. Either I will give my life or we will get reservation. I need your support for this. The fight has come to the last phase. Reservation is our primary issue and we will continue to fight for it. From August 25, which is observed as the ‘Patidar Kranti Divas’, I am going to sit on an indefinite fast and will not eat anything until we get reservation,” Patel said, interacting with his supporters via a video-streaming feature on Facebook. —