Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel gets two-year jail term in Visnagar rioting case

A Gujarat court sentenced Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel to two years imprisonment in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town here in 2015. Judge V P Agarwal, of the sessions court at Visnagar, held guilty Hardik Patel and his two aides, Lalji Patel and A K Patel under IPC sections pertaining to rioting, arson, damage to property and unlawful assembly. The three were awarded two years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000 each. The other 14 accused were let off by the court for want of enough evidence against them. Hardik Patel is one of the accused in the FIR which was filed at Visnagar in Mehsana district on July 23, 2015, when a rally of the Patel community seeking reservation turned violent, resulting in damage to property and assault on some media persons. During the violent agitation, the mob had torched a car and vandalised the office of local BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel.