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Violence in Surat after Hardik Patel's aide Alpesh Kathiria arrested

Violence erupted in Surat late on Sunday evening following arrest of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samitj (PAAS) leader Alpesh Kathiria by Ahmedabad Police in an old sedition case.

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Violence erupted in Surat late on Sunday evening following arrest of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samitj (PAAS) leader Alpesh Kathiria by Ahmedabad Police in an old sedition case.

Kathiria was among the nine leaders arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch for unlawful assembly and preventing a public servant from discharging his duty this morning. Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel was also among those arrested.

While Hardik and seven others were released on bail by the police in the evening, Kathiria was arrested in the sedition case dating back to 2015.

A large number of protestors belonging to the Patidar community assembled in different Patidar dominated areas of Diamond City Surat late on Sunday to protest against Kathiria's arrest. Angry mobs set on fire a BRTS bus. They also burnt tyres and damaged windows of at least one bus.

Police said that security had been stepped up in Patidar dominated areas as a precaution. Hardik however, claimed that none of the PAAS workers were involved in the violence and it was the handiwork of hooligans wanting to defame the outfit.

Earlier in the day, the police had detained Hardik Patel and several of his associates, while they were on their way to take part in a symbolic fast protest.

Nine of them, including Hardik, were later arrested and released. With authorities not granting him permission for holding his indefinite fast from August 25 or allocating him a ground for the fast, Patel had announced that he would go on a symbolic fast in a car in a parking lot at Nikol on Sunday. However, a large number of police personnel reached his home in Sola in the morning and detained him and other office bearers of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).

Crime Branch DCP Deepan Bhadran said that nine PAAS leaders had been detained from outside Hardik's home as they were on their way to hold protests without police's permission.

Hardik, however, claimed that more than 140 people had been detained to prevent the fast.

“Fifty-eight people have been detained from Nikol and Vastral. Twenty-six, who were coming from Rajkot, have been arrested in Chotila. Fifty-nine persons, including me, have been detained at my residence, which his surrounded by more than 200 police personnel,” Hardik said.

A large number of police personnel were also deployed in Nikol to prevent people from gathering at the venue.

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch later registered a case under IPC Section 143 (unlawful assembly) and 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of his duty) against Hardik and eight others.

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