Surat: PAAS leader and close aide of Hardik Patel, Alpesh Kathiria, whose bail in a sedition case was cancelled by a local court here last month, was arrested by the crime branch of Surat police today from Valenja on the outskirts of the city.

DCP crime branch Rahul Patel said that police was on a look out for him since cancellation of his bail on January 15 by the district court here.

‘Today we got a tip off about his presence in the marriage ceremony of one of his friends Ashish Vaghasia and he was nabbed,’ he said.

Notably Kathiria, a native of Surat, was earlier released from the Lajpore central jail here on December 9 after spending almost 4 months in jail following his earlier arrest on August 19 in Ahmedabad. He was arrested initially with Hardik and seven others while trying to go to Narol area for a symbolic fast on August 19 in Ahmedabad and was granted bail in that matter with others only to be arrested again in the sedition case lodge by the crime branch in Ahmedabad in October 2015. He was later handed over to Surat police last month in connection with two cases including another sedition case lodged in Amroli police station and an attempt to murder case.

After getting bail in all these cases one after the other he was released on bail but his bail was cancelled after the request from police following his involvement in around half a dozen case after that. Audio and video clips of his alleged misbehavior with cops and using abusive language for them had also gone viral.

DeshGujarat