As many as 39 Patidar agitators arrested during Jail Bharo Andolan a week ago were released from jail on Sunday morning following a local court in Surat granted their conditional bail.
The agitators were allegedly members of two main organisations — Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) led by 22-year-old Hardik Patel and Sardar Patel Group (SPG) led by lalaji Patel. They were arrested on last Sunday during ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ organised by PAAS and SPG with the demand to release Hardik from Surat jail. The Andolan turned violent and incidents or arson and stone pelting at Police were reported and as result of it police had to arrest some of the protestors.
The accused were arrested on Sunday last under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code for rioting, and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Intensity of Jail Bharo Andolan was high in North Gujarat town Mehsana, South Gujarat commercial hub Surat and in the biggest city of the State Ahmedabad. Alone in Surat police had to detain over 430 Patidar agitators whom the cops released after few hours.
“They were granted bail on Rs15,000 bond. The court observed that half of the agitators were not from Patidar community. As per the condition of the bail the accused released from jail will have to present themselves before the court once in every month. The court also warned them not to tamper any evidence against them,” said a source in PAAS.