Rajkot/Surat

Surat Police has booked Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti(PAAS) leader Hardik Patel under various sections including sedition.

According to the Surat Police Commissioner, a complaint has been booked against Hardik Patel yesterday evening.

Surat Police Zone – 3 DCP Makrand Chauhan is complainant in this case. Complaint has been filed in Amroli police station.

The complaint is regarding Hardik’s advise to a Patel caste youth to kill 2-5 policemen. Hardik’s this advise to a Patel caste youth was captured in video camera clearly with sound.

Rakesh Asthana, Police Commissioner of Surat told media persons today that Hardik will be arrested and his custody would be sought in court. Hardik has been presently kept at the State Reserve Police(SRP) camp of Ghanteshwar near Rajkot. Surat police will take custody of Hardik Patel from Rajkot police once Hardik is relieved from Rajkot police’s custody.

It should be mentioned that Hardik has been arrested by Rajkot police for insulting Indian national flag. Haridk is suitable to get three years imprisonment in this case if proven guilty. Hardik was picked up by Rajkot police when he was on way to Khandheri cricket stadium yesterday where India-South Africa cricket match was going on. Hardik wanted to convert the cricket stadium into protest ground during live cricket match to attract the attention globally. Before police could detain him, Hardik went atop the car and started waving national flag. He then used folded national flag as stick.

Hardik who started his agitation for government job-college quota for Patel caste people, later converted his agitation into anti-BJP government. Hardik’s violent and whimsical one-person centric agitation is on continuous decline. When he was first detained on 25th August, the Patel community had burnt buses, attacked government properties in state-wide violence in which 10 persons including a police man were killed. When Hardik was again detained in September, there was little response from Patidar community and road blocks and other agitation programmes occurred at very fewer places. Later when on one day Hardik manufactured a story of his kidnap, there was no response of protest in the state. When Hardik was detained for third time yesterday, oddly dozen supporters were seen gathering at less than 10 locations mostly for brief road blockades. With apparent backdoor support of Congress party, frontal support of extra-ordinary media coverage, scattered support of casteist people in some pockets, and visual support of curiosity driven small crowds flocking to listen to him in rural Patel pockets, Hardik is more surviving in news and controversies and little on the ground. – DeshGujarat

Related story by PTI: Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was today booked by Gujarat Police under sedition charges for his alleged comments on October 3 instigating a community youth to kill policemen instead of committing suicide.

“We have filed a case of sedition against Hardik Patel for his October 3 comments here telling his friends to kill policemen,” DCP Makrand Chauhan, who has become a complainant in the case, said.

The sedition case has been filed under section 124(A) of IPC at Amroli police station in the city.

In a controversial remark in Surat, Hardik, the 22-year-old fiery leader, had allegedly advised a youth from the community to kill policemen rather than commit suicide.

“If you have so much courage…then go and kill a couple of policemen. Patels never commit suicide,” Hardik had allegedly told the youth Vipul Desai, who had announced that he would commit suicide in support of the agitation.

Hardik visited Desai’s house accompanied by a team of a news channel which had aired the conversation later.

This complaint against Hardik comes after almost 15 days of his controversial remarks.

The quota spearhead has been hogging the limelight since the August 25 “mega-rally” of Patels in Ahmedabad and the subsequent violence across Gujarat.

Hardik was detained yesterday in Rajkot ahead of India- South Africa third ODI, as he had threatened to protest during the match for quota for his community. He is still under detention of Rajkot Police.PTI