Hardik sentenced to two years in jail
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel was on Wednesday sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined ~50,000 by a Visnagar court for vandalism during the 2015 Patidar protests.
Patel and two others were found guilty of resorting to arson and creating a ruckus at the office of BJP legislator Rushikesh Patel in Visnagar. Fellow Patidar leader Lalji Patel was also awarded a similar sentence.
All the convicts were later granted bail. The Patidar leader was, however, acquitted of conspiracy charges. “Hardik Patel, Lalji Patel and AK Patel have been convicted under IPC section 147,148, 149. They have been awarded two years sentence and ~50,000 penalty to each,” said public prosecutor Chandrasinh Rajput.
Patel, one of the most prominent faces of the Patidar reservation movement, had spearheaded the 2015 Gujarat protests.
Patel faced nine cases, filed in eight police stations, ranging from rioting to sedition after he led huge protests in 2015 to put pressure on the government to accept the demand for inclusion of Patels or Patidars in the “other backward class” category.
A rally of more than 25,000
AHMEDABAD:
people of the Patel community demanding reservation was then at the initial stage of quota movement in Gujarat.The rally in Visnagar was the first prominent event of the quota movement when Hardik Patel came into limelight.
As per the case details, 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.
However, when they did not find the MLA in his office, they got angry and ransacked his office. It was also alleged that protesters had torched a car parked on a road in the area.
Some media persons were also attacked by the mob at that time.
The complainant in the case was TV channel reporter Vanol, who was brutally thrashed by those present in the rally.