Controversial Congress leader Hardik Patel was arrested on Saturday night in Ahmedabad for failing to appear before a trial court in connection with a sedition case. He has been sent to judicial custody till January 24.
According to the reports, Hardik Patel was arrested near Viramgam in Ahmedabad on Saturday after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him in the case.
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Earlier, Ahmedabad sessions court had issued an arrest warrant after Patel repeatedly missed the trial of the case registered against him in 2015 during the violent agitation for quota for the Patidar community.
Read: Man who slapped Hardik Patel at a rally in Gujarat explains why he did it
Hardik Patel was booked by the Crime Branch in 2015 under sedition charges over his provocative remarks where he had allegedly asked his supporters to kill policemen rather than commit suicide for the cause of reservation.
However, Patel had asserted that there was no evidence against him in the charge-sheet filed by the Crime Branch with regard to criminal conspiracy and inciting people to dislodge the government during the violent agitation that followed August 25, 2015 gathering by Patidar community.
In a big setback, Hardik Patel, the face of Patidar agitation in Gujarat, was barred from contesting the 2019 elections as he was convicted and sentenced to 2 years in prison by the High Court in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town in 2015. The high court in August 2018 suspended the sentence of 2 years in prison but not the conviction.