SURAT: Eighteen of the 19 members of
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), who were booked at Sarthana police station for the attack on the rally of
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
(BJYM) here on Tuesday, were arrested. The 18 PAAS activists namely Dharmik Malaviya, PAAS Surat convener, Saurabh Patel, Ronak Hirpara, Ashish Diyora, Utsav Veladiya, Yogesh Kumbhani, Jignesh Vaghasiya, Mahesh alias Michael Vaghani, Vipul Mahipara, Yogesh Popatbhai, Virendra Kakadia, Dinesh Rakholia, Rakesh Kakadia, Jatin Siroya, Haresh Domliya, Naresh Virani, Babu Godhani and
Parth Baldha
were produced in a court on Wednesday, which released them on bail.
The PAAS activists had allegedly thrown tomatoes, eggs, water pouches, itching powder and ink on the rally taken out to welcome
Rutvij Patel, the newly appointed state chief of BJYM. Vijay Mangukia, who threw ink on Rutvij, is yet to be arrested because he is undergoing treatment for the injuries he suffered from the thrashing received from BJYM members. Mangukiya was nabbed from the spot by BJYM workers and thrashed.
Police investigation revealed that the accused had planned in advance to target the rally at different locations in the city. PAAS members had removed BJP flags and torn the party posters a day before the rally.
“No new names of accused have come up during our investigation. We will take action on any new information,” a police officer said.