Patidar quota issue: Police foils self-immolation bid by Patel leader; eight detained

AHMEDABAD: Police today foiled self-immolation bid by a Patel quota leader Nirav Patel, moments before he could set himself ablaze outside the entrance of the Sachivalaya in Gandhinagar, police said.

Apart from Nirav, who is the Mahisagar district convener of Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti ( PAAS) seven other Patel quota leaders were detained near the Sachivalaya entrance this morning, said a senior police official.

Few days back, Nirav had announced that he will commit suicide by setting himself ablaze outside Sachivalaya, if Patel agitation spearhead Hardik and other PAAS leaders, who are facing sedition charges, are not released from jail by January end.

"We had received inputs that Nirav will try to immolate himself outside Sachivalaya today. As soon as he arrived and poured kerosene on himself, we immediately detained him. Along with him, seven other PAAS members were also detained," said the official.

"The detainees also include a woman agitator Reshma Patel. All of them have been kept under preventive detention. We will release them in due course," added the official.

Earlier, PAAS members had announced state-wide agitation across Gujarat if government does not accept their demand of releasing Hardik and other jailed leaders by January 31.

"Though the deadline is approaching, nothing is happening from government's side. To give a strong message, Nirav had announced that he would commit suicide today. To stop him, some PAAS leaders went there. However, police have also detained them," said PAAS member Jagdish Parikh.