Gujarat Police on the lookout for Hardik

Meanwhile, the Gujarat High Court has asked the State government to find Hardik Patel and produce him in the court by Thursday.

Earlier, the police said that, “While we went to detain Hardik Patel, after he conducted a public meeting, without the permission of the police, he gave the police a slip”.

The Gujarat High Court issued the order at around 2:30 am on Wednesday after Patel’s lawyers moved a petition claiming that he had been detained by the police illegally.

Hardik Patel is leading an agitation for the inclusion of the Patel community in the OBC category for reservation.

Hardik was arrested on September 19 in Surat while he was trying to take out Ekta Yatra without permission He was kept in custody till late in the night and was released on bail. In that message, Bambhania allegedly told Kathiria to resort to violence in Surat, the commissioner said, adding that police arrested them as a precautionary step.

“They have arrested Chirag Patel and two others before the press conference”. Patel had on Tuesday evaded arrest following a police crackdown on a public meeting in the Aravalli district while 17 other protesters were arrested for disobeying prohibitory orders.

A top police officer of Gujarat on Tuesday described Hardik Patel as a “criminal” and said the police is looking for him after Mr Patel escaped the police in a dramatic manner when he was attending a Patel community function in a village in North Gujarat.

The petitioner submitted that he was with Hardik when the police tried to detain the 22-year-old leader.

“After the meeting, we intercepted their (Hardik’s supporters) four vehicles outside the village, but two of the vehicles took a U-turn and managed to flee”.

After the incident, police have put up barricades on roads in Gandhiangar, Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts and intensified combing operation in the region to detain him, the IG said, adding that Hardik may be detained tonight.

Reacting to the police claims members of the the PAAS said “The police claim that he escaped the police and disappeared but we are apprehending that the police have arrested him and is not disclosing”. “But we some how ran away.I don’t know the status of Hardik and others as to where they are right now”, he said.

In fact, anticipating tough action from the police, Mr. Hardik alleged on Monday that the State administration was trying to break his agitation by “implicating its leaders in false police cases”.

B M Mangukiya, the advocate, who earlier appeared for Hardik had moved the plea before the registrar general, after obtaining the permission from acting chief justice Jayant Patel, for conducting the special hearing in the early morning, today.