Ahmedabad: Hardik Patel, who is spearheading the Patel reservation movement in Gujarat, gave police a slip on Tuesday who tried to detain him for organising a public meeting without prior permission at a village in Aravalli district.
After Hardik addressed the meeting at Tenpur village, the police tried to detain him but he fled in a vehicle, a senior police officer said.
"Hardik held a public meeting in Tenpur village in Bayad taluka without taking prior permission. As we came to know about it, our police team went there to detain him but he ran away from there to evade detention," Inspector General of Police Hasmmukh Patel said.
After the incident, police have put up barricades on roads in Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts and intensified combing operation in the region to detain him, the IG said, adding that Hardik may be detained on Tuesday tonight.
"We did not arrest him during the meeting because we did not wish to create a friction with local people present there," the officer said.
Elaborating on the incident, the IG said that "after the meeting, we intercepted their (Hardik's supporters) four vehicles outside the village, but two of the vehicles took a U-turn and managed to flee. Hardik was in one of them."
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The officer said the police have cordoned off the areas surrounding the place to detain the Patel leader. "He (Hardik) is running here and there," he added.
"We have the information that he is trying to run here and there from villages in Aravalli or neighbouring Sabarkantha district. He has been running here and there to evade his arrest," the officer said.
He said Hardik will be booked for illegally holding the meeting. "He (Hardik) will be detained for holding the public gathering illegally without taking prior permission," the IG said.
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) member Ketan Patel said he was not aware about Hardik's whereabouts.
"The police first chased us from public meeting and after some distance a police vehicle intercepted one of our vehicles. But we some how ran away. I don't know the status of Hardik and others as to where they are right now," he said.
Meanwhile, Hardik's close aide Chirag Patel said PAAS had applied for permission for the gathering but it was denied by the police.
"This is murder of democracy as we are not allowed to hold a peaceful public meeting for those who have died in recent violence," Chirag added.
Hardik was arrested on September 19 in Surat city when he tried to take out 'Ekta Yatra' without obtaining permission. He was later released on bail by a court.
