Mehsana Riots case: Hardik Patel, aides get two-year jail term; fined Rs 50,000

A Gujrat Court on Wednesday have sentenced Hardik Patel, the face of the Patidar campaign in Gujarat, to two years of jail after the court found him guilty in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town of Mehsana in 2015.

Judge VP Agarwal of the sessions court at Visnagar, held Hardik Patel and two of his aides – Lalji Patel and AK Patel – guilty of rioting, arson, unlawful assembly and damage to property and booked them under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Hardik Patel, Lalji Patel and AK Patel have been awarded 2 years imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 50,000 each in a case related to vandalising BJP legislator Rushikesh Patel’s office in Visnagar during 2015 Patidar protests. https://t.co/M2a7mIgaEJ

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2018

The trio has been fined Rs 50,000 apart from the jail term.

On July 2015, a rally of the Patel community demanding reservation turned violent and assaulted media persons resulting in damage to property. During the violent agitation, the mod had set ablaze a car and vandalised the office of BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel.

The demand for job reservation was at its peak when the incident took place.

On October 2017, an arrest warrant was issued by sessions court in Visnagar against Hardik Patel and Lalji Patel for not attending court proceedings

The other 14 accused in the case were given a relief by the court for not having enough evidence against them.