Hardik surfaces after mysterious disappearance, says ‘was threatened to quit agitation’

Janjivan bureau
Ahmedabad: Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel, who surfaced near Dhangadhra in Suendranagar district this evening after the Gujarat High Court’s direction to trace him on a habeas corpus petition, alleged that he was abducted by some people who threatened him to quit his agitation.
“Some persons chased my car then I was made to sit in a car and taken to Aravalli. Later, they stopped the car and sat around me. I was threatened to quit my agitation. They said that if they see me addressing a public meeting in rural area, I will be eliminated,” he told the media here.
The Gujarat High Court had earlier directed the state government to trace Hardik after a habeas corpus petition alleging that the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader had been illegally detained by the police.
Hardik was missing since last evening after the public meeting at Bayad in Aravali district which was organised without permission from the concerned authorities. The state police denied that and said Hardik Patel had fled in a vehicle on Tuesday when they tried to detain him for holding a large public meeting in a village in north Gujarat without permission. They arrested 13 of his associates, one of whom Nilesh Patel, has been charged with sedition for some posts on Facebook. He reportedly posted derogatory remarks against the chief minister and the Prime Minister.
On Wednesday morning, Hardik Patel’s lawyer said he had contacted him on SMS and told him he was in Halwad, about 155 km from Ahmedabad.
But Mr Patel was not found in Halwad. He finally surfaced in Viramgam about 60 kms from Ahmedabad , and shared details about his alleged abduction by unidentified men. “They threatened me to stop organising protest rallies,” he said, adding that he would head to the Gujarat High Court and inform it too about the alleged incident.
Mr Hardik’s lawyer had said yesterday, “There is no trace of Hardik and we do not know where he is. We later got to know that he was being threatened for the past two days by the state government and their supporters. They were asking him to end the protest.”