Hardik Patel (File)
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convener Hardik Patel was granted bail on Friday by a Patan court in an assault and robbery case, a day after members of his outfit accosted BJP MLA from Morbi Kanti Amrutiya and managed to secure a verbal assurance for help in securing their leader’s release. Akin to the Morbi incident, MoS for Transport Vallabh Kakadiya became the target of PAAS workers in Ahmedabad on Friday, when he reached there to participate in a public debate of a private news channel.
Hardik’s lawyer Rafik Lokhandwala said the court in Patan granted the Patidar leader bail on the condition that he would not enter the district and also not leave Gujarat without court’s permission. In another criminal case Hardik has been barred from entering Mehsana. Both Mehsana and Patan are Patidar-dominated districts. In another case lodged at Vastral police station in Ahmedabad, he has barred from entering the area. “We will file application for bail modification soon,” Lokhandwala said.
The complainant in the Patan case, Narendra Patel, moved an affidavit claiming that his complaint had nothing to do with Hardik. He claimed that Hardik was not present at the scene of offence and did not threaten him. PAAS leader Varun Patel said they are gheraoing BJP leaders “in a planned manner”. “Our workers are detained before any government function. So we have decided that whenever they (BJP leaders) come in public, our workers will confront them,” he said.
