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Hardik Patel sentenced to two years in jail in Visnagar rioting case, gets bail
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was on Wednesday held guilty by a Gujarat court in the 2015 Visnagar rioting case
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 2 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” reservation category.
