Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia – who was reported missing on 15 January when the Rajasthan police went to arrest him – has alleged that a plan was being hatched to kill him in an encounter. Speaking at a press conference in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, Togadia claimed that he was being targeted in a decade-old case.
Meanwhile, Dr Rupkumar Agrawal, who was attending Togadia at the Chandramani hospital, said his health condition was stable, PTI reported.
Chaos erupted at the VHP headquarters in Paldi, Ahmedabad, when the workers claimed that Togadia, a Z Plus category protectee, went “missing” after stepping out of the headquarters when a contingent of Rajasthan Police came to arrest him in an old case.
Hours later, he was found in an unconscious state in Shahibaug area of the city – around 12 km away. He was brought to Chandramani Hospital at around 9:20 pm on Monday. According to reports, his blood sugar and blood pressure were found to be below normal. Senior officials of the Crime Branch visited him to enquire about the incident on 16 January.
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Dinesh Bambhaniya, who met the VHP leader on Tuesday morning, told reporters that he was in a stable condition. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) JK Bhatt and other top cops from the city met Togadia at the hospital, as did Ranchhod Bharwad, general secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)'s Gujarat chapter.
Later, Patidar leader Hardik Patel and Congress leader Arjun Modwadiya also paid a visit to Togadia. Hardik said that while he may not share the same thoughts with Togadia, he shares the same mind and supports his claims of conspiracy by the BJP.
Confusion Around Togadia’s Whereabouts
The city police formed four teams to locate the Hindutva leader after he had gone "missing" from the VHP office on Monday morning. While VHP spokesperson Jay Shah claimed that Togadia was detained by the Rajasthan Police, a senior police officer added to the confusion by telling reporters that neither the local Sola police nor the Rajasthan Police arrested him.
Sola police station officials said a team of Rajasthan Police visited them on Monday morning to execute an arrest warrant against Togadia under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, but could not find him at his residence.
VHP workers, however, sat on a dharna outside Sola police station claiming that Togadia had been arrested and demanded that the police inform them about his whereabouts.
They alleged that cops picked up Togadia and later he went missing, hinting that he has been picked up to be killed in an encounter.
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