Several Congress leaders and workers were detained by the Surat police during a Satyagraha Dharna program organized by the Surat City District Congress Committee at the Congress office in Nanpura. The protest was held in response to the recent sentencing of Rahul Gandhi to two years in a defamation case.
According to reports, the police raided the Congress office within two minutes of the start of the dharna program. The police arrested the workers and leaders, including the city president of the Congress. It is alleged that the police deployed a convoy of ten times more officers than the number of workers and leaders present.
Former Vice President of Surat City Congress, Harish Suryavanshi, stated that the Congress will continue to fight against the government's tyranny and will not bow down. He also accused the government of using various agencies to suppress the voice of the Congress.
The protest program was organized on Sunday at the District Congress office located in Chowk Bazar of Surat city. Prior to the Congress protest, the police had already detained several city Congress workers and women. The police action has caused anger among Congress workers, who staged sit-ins across the state on Sunday.
The detained Congress leaders and workers include Hasmukhbhai Desai, Harish Suryavanshi, Om Prakash Goyal, Ashok Piple, Firoz Malik, Dhansukh Rajput, Naishad Desai, Shailesh Raika, Awadhesh Singh, Dayaram Tiwari, Kalpesh Barot, Vipul Udhanawala, Vijay Parneria, Dharmesh Kantharia, Mohini Kosambia, Subhash Inamdar, Laxmikant Patel, Shashi Dubey, Mohan Kanojia, Rajkumar Rajat, Dinesh Brahmbhatt, Pawan Mishra, Shiva Rajput, Arvind Bhandari, Sahil Lakdawala, Yuvraj Jain, Jayesh Rathore, Mukesh Rana, and Indrajit Morya.
