Hardik Patel held guilty in 2015 Gujarat riots case, gets 2 years in jail

Ahmedabad: Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel has been guilty by Gujarat court in 2015 Visnagar rioting case. Patel has been awarded two years of imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 50,000 in the case related to vandalising BJP legislator Rishikesh Patel’s office in Visnagar during 2015 Patidar protests.

Judge V P Agarwal, of the sessions court at Visnagar, also held two of Hardik’s aides, Lalji Patel and A K Patel, guilty under IPC sections pertaining to rioting, arson, damage to property and unlawful assembly and awarded them a similar sentence.

Later, all three were granted bail by the same court.

Hardik, one of the most prominent faces of the Patidar reservation movement, had spearheaded the 2015 Gujarat protests.

In an FIR filed at Visnagar in Mehsana district on July 23, 2015, Hardik was named as an accused after 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.

A sessions court in Visnagar had issued an arrest warrant against Hardik and Lalji for not attending the court proceedings in October last year.

(With PTI inputs)