Violence erupted in Gujarat’s Surat after the arrest of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Alpesh Kathiria in a 2016 sedition case.
Mr. Kathiria was arrested in connection with a two-year old case on the day when police also arrested the quota agitation leader Hardik Patel in Ahmedabad. Mr. Patel was later released on bail late night.
However, as soon as the news of Mr. Kathiria’s arrest became public, hundreds of Patidar youth came out on streets in Surat’s Patidar-dominated Varachha area where mobs torched several buses and also a bus station.
Police have been deployed in large numbers in the Patidar-dominated pockets of Surat.
Mr. Patel alleged that some “anti-social elements” are resorting to violence to defame the Patidar quota agitation. He appealed for peace and stressed that the Patidar community’s agitation for quota will continue peacefully.
