Patel community leader Hardik detained after cops forcibly remove agitators

AHMEDABAD: Hardik Patel, patidar agitation leader demanding OBC status for the community, was removed forcibly from GMDC ground, the area where he was sitting on dharna on Tuesday morning demanding that the state chief minister Anandiben Patel come personally to accept the memorandum seeking the reservation.
Sources did not deny the possibility that Patel could be detained on the charges of criminal trespass (IPC Section 447). A police team escorted him to city police commissioner office.
While Ahmedabad city police kept mum on the issue and did not receive any calls from media on Tuesday night, sources said that close to 1,000 people fled from the ground after police started indiscriminate lathicharge.
READ ALSO: Patel stir turns violent; clashes in Ahmedabad
"The permission for the agitation was given from morning to evening. After the hours specified are over, it was the case of criminal trespass and violation of police notification. GMDC ground is a private property on which the agitation was staged. When the agitators showed no intent of vacating the plot, police used force to evacuate them," said sources.
READ ALSO: Who is Hardik Patel?
Many reporters who had rushed on the spot to cover the incident also were at the receiving end as the power connection on the venue was cut off. Sources also said that several parked vehicles were also damaged in the incident.
When the news of lathicharge started flashing in media, a number of patidar community members started gathering at GMDC and Vastrapur police station. City police have deployed additional force in the area to prevent any untoward incident.