The Jamnagar district court dismissed a seven-year-old case dated back to the Patidar reservation agitation. On Thursday, the bench acquitted 14 people accused of setting up a police motorcycle on fire in August 2015. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, NR Pathar, passed the order to dismiss all the individuals against a lack of evidence.
Hasmukh Moliya, their lawyer, informed that the group also included former Congress Corporator Atul Bhandari. The petitioners portrayed them as a part of a mob of 50 people who set a police motorcycle on fire when the government imposed a city-wide curfew amid the protests. On August 25, 2015, a Gujarat-wide protest broke out after Patidar leader Hardik Patel‘s rally in Ahmedabad.
Moliya said, “The police booked the 14 people at City A Division police station under IPC 143 (Unlawful Assemblage), IPC 435 (Mischief by Fire or Explosive), and other offences.”Earlier, in a similar case, the Jamnagar district court dismissed ten people accused of setting a state transport bus on fire in Jodiya in the light of Patidar agitation.
In August 2015, a protest demanding OBC status for the Patidar community burst out following youth leader Patel’s rally. The demonstration led to the death of 12 people. In addition to this, the protest led to the destruction of public and private property worth several crores. Later, the Gujarat police booked many people for arson and vandalism.
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