The Gujarat High Court has ordered the state government, which is headed by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, to appoint a high level committee to take decisions with regard to security and imposition of curfew in sensitive areas ahead of the funeral of Patidar activist Swetang Patel today.
According to sources, the high level committee will consist of the chief secretary, home secretary, the director general of police, the director general of police (law and order) and the director general of police (intelligence).
The Gujarat High Court ordered a CID probe of the alleged custodial death of 32-year-old Swetang Patel on Friday.
Swetang was allegedly forcibly taken away by police on August 25. A plea was moved by his mother Prabhaben Patel, which said her son was allegedly beaten up by the police and that he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The Gujarat High Court then ordered a second autopsy of Patel’s body, which revealed that he had died from a severe head injury.
Observing that prima facie there existed a case of homicide, the high court directed the administration to file an FIR and also ordered a CID probe.
So far, nine policemen, including two inspectors and a sub-inspector have been booked in connection with the alleged incident, which took place during Patel quota agitation.
Hardik Patel, who is leading the agitation by Patel community for reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, has said that he is likely to attend funeral of Swetang Patel on Sunday, and warned that the state government will be held responsible “if anything happens”.
Assistant Commissioner of Police K D Pandya said police inspectors P D Parmar and R R Vasava of Bapunagar are among the nine policemen booked in the Swetang Patel death case.
