The Gujarat Police on Sunday took Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PASS) convener Hardik Patel and four others under preventive custody as he along with his supporters marched to the Khaduri Stadium in Rajkot to oraganise protest for quota during the ODI between India and South Africa.
The turban-clad PAAS leaders in farmers’ attire somehow cleared tight checking of police and reached near the stadium. Police could only recognise Hardik and his supporters when they started waving Indian flags near the stadium. He was nabbed just after the toss. Hardik was and his aides were taken to the State Reserve Police camp on the Rajkot-Jamnagar Highway near the stadium.
The Patidar reservation supporters had vowed to stage a protest during the third ODI of the Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium pressing for their demand for reservation under the OBC quota.
As part of preventive measure, the State administration stopped mobile internet services as well as SMS services in Rajkot and surrounding places from Saturday evening till Monday morning. The 22-year-old PAAS convener kept the Gujarat Government on tenterhooks by threatening to mar the India-South Africa ODI. The well-coordinated moves by police, match organisers and the ruling BJP ensured the event passed off without any trouble. Police also foiled PAAS leaders’ attempt to prevent the cricket teams of India and South Africa reaching the venue by piloting their buses under heavy security arrangements.
Not only Hardik’s threat to mobilise 50,000 demonstrators outside the Khanderi stadium turned out to be hollow, there was not even a whimper of protest when police caught him and a dozen of his supporters minutes before the cricket match.
However, as soon as the news regarding detention of Hardik and other PAAS leaders spread, their supporters started blocking highways in Amreli, Bharuch and Surat districts. Though police was quick to control the situation, an incident of torching a bus has been registered in the State.
The PAAS convener had announced that Patidars would attend the cricket match wearing T-shirts embossed with the photograph of Sardar Patel and shout "Jai Sardar", "Jai Patidar" slogans during the match every time the Indian batsmen hit a four or six and shout anti-Government and anti-CM slogans when they get out. In a counter strategy, supporters of ruling BJP turned up inside the stadium wearing T-shirts with photograph of PM Narendra Modi.
There were hardly 5,000 spectators at the stadium at the start of the match against its capacity of seating 29,000 people. However, the number of spectators swelled soon after Hardik's detention. Over 3,500 policemen were deployed in and around the cricket stadium even as over 100 CCTV cameras and drones kept an eye on PAAS workers.
The area surrounding the SCA stadium was turned into a fortress with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary, including State Reserve Police. Section 144 of the IPC was imposed around the stadium.