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Firebrand Patidar reservation leader Hardik Patel was on Monday booked by Surat police under charges of sedition for his remarks that he would “kill policemen”.
On Sunday, the 22-year-old was detained by Rajkot police ahead of the India-South Africa One Day International (ODI) cricket match in Rajkot. After the overnight detention, Patel was produced in a Rajkot court, after which he was handed over to the Surat Police, who had rushed to Rajkot to take custody of Patel for a sedition complaint against him.
After his detention on Sunday, several parts of Saurashtra and southern Gujarat witnessed isolated incidents of violence, with mob resorting to vandalism and blocking of highways. Mobile internet services were suspended in Rajkot city and district as precautionary measure.
‘Kill policemen’ During his visit to Surat earlier this month, Hardik Patel visited a Patidar youth, who had threatened to commit suicide demanding reservation for Patidars. In his interaction with the youth, Patel had allegedly advised him to “kill 2-5 policemen instead of committing suicide”. “If you have so much zeal in you, better kill 2-5 policemen. Patels don’t die,” he was heard telling the youth in footage captured by a TV news crew.
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