Hardik held for sedition, insulting national flag
ACTION Patel agitation leader in trouble for inciting a community youth to kill policemen
SURAT/RAJKOT: Firebrand quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was arrested on Monday in a case of insulting the tricolour and has also been booked under stringent sedition laws for his alleged controversial remarks instigating a community youth to kill policemen instead of committing suicide.
Hardik, who was detained by Rajkot rural police on Sunday ahead of the India-South Africa One-Day International as he had threatened to disrupt the match, was arrested by the rural police for allegedly insulting the national flag.
“We have checked all the video footage, which clearly suggested that Hardik did commit an offence of insulting the national flag. Thus, police lodged an FIR against him at the Paddhari police station on Tuesday after which, we have arrested him,” Rajkot (rural) SP Gagandeep Gambhir said.
A case of sedition was also slapped against the Patel agitation leader. “We have filed a case of sedition for Hardik’s October 3 comments telling his friends to kill policemen,” Surat city DCP Makrand Chauhan said.
The sedition case has been filed under Section 124(A) of IPC at Amroli police station in Surat under which an accused, if convicted, can be sentenced to maximum of life imprisonment, while the minimum sentence is three years.
Other IPC sections included in the FIR against Hardik are Section 115 (abetment of offence), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, 505-2 (incite one community against another) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
According to Surat city police commissioner Rakesh Asthana, Hardik will be arrested from Rajkot if he manages to get bail from a local court in Paddhari, where he has been arrested on charges of insulting the national flag.
“We have already sent a team to Rajkot to arrest Hardik. If he is given bail, we will arrest him and bring him to Surat for interrogation,” said Asthana.