Hardik, Jignesh and Alpesh booked for trespassing, giving false evidence

Two days after Patidar leader Hardik Patel, and MLAs Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor conducted raid at a liquor den in Gandhinagar, the police have booked them for house trespassing and giving false evidence about the seizure of liquor from the premises.

The trio had conducted the raid at a house close to the Gandhinagar SP office in Sector 27 on Thursday. The raid was aimed at showing how liquor was freely available and came a day after four workers were hospitalised after consuming country liquor in Sola locality of Ahmedabad.

During the raid, Patel Mevani and Thakor claimed to have seized two pouches of country liquor and presented it as evidence of a thriving liquor business. Within hours of the raid, the Gandhinagar police held a press conference and rubbished their claim. Gandhinagar SP Virendra Singh Yadav told reporters that the two liquor pouches were planted in the house minutes before the raid by the trio.

On Saturday, Gandhinagar police booked the three youth leaders for house trespass and other offences.

“We have registered a case against them under IPC Sections 452 (house trespass), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) and 193 (punishment for false evidence),'” inspector VN Yadav of Sector 21 police station, told DNA. However, it seems that the complaint has set the stage for another confrontation between the government and the trio.

After they were booked, Patel, Mevani and Thakor announced that they would be going to the police station at 5:00 this evening to court arrest. Hardik and Mevani also took to social media to voice their angst at the police complaint.

“Instead of taking any action against the bootleggers, Gujarat police files an FIR against me, Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor for exposing that alcohol is being sold at a distance of 100 metre of District Superintendent's office at Gandhinagar. Shame!” Dalit leader and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani wrote on Twitter.

Patidar reservation leader Hardik Patel said that the state government and police have registered the complaint against them to save their face. He also stressed that they had seized liquor during the raid.