India vs South Africa: Rajkot stadium fortified amid protest threat by Patels at ODI; Section 144​ imposed

The Rajkot stadium was fortified and the city secured with large deployment to ensure smooth conduct of the third ODI cricket match between India and South Africa as Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel emphasised visiting the venue to hold protests to push their demand for reservation.

Rajkot/Ahmedabad: The Rajkot stadium was fortified and the city secured with large deployment to ensure smooth conduct of the third ODI cricket match between India and South Africa as Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel emphasised visiting the venue to hold protests to push their demand for reservation.

A day after Hardik said he would block the way of Indian and South African cricket teams to the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium and not let them enter the venue if he and his supporters are not allowed to go inside to stage an agitation, the 22-year-old leader today said they have got tickets for the match and will go to the stadium.

He has also urged the Patel community members to remain present in large numbers during the match to raise their demand for reservation under OBC quota for which they have been agitating over last two months.

"We have asked around 50,000 community members to rush to the SCA stadium tomorrow for agitation," the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener said.

"My match ticket has been purchased by Rajkot unit of PAAS and I am going to attend the match tomorrow," Hardik said.

In the wake of the threat and given the largescale violence the state witnessed recently over the quota stir, police have fortified the stadium, located on the outskirts of Rajkot city at Khandheri village, which will host the third cricket match under the Gandhi-Mandela freedom series.

"Over two thousand policemen, three companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), one company of Rapid Action Force (RAF), and seven teams of quick response cells (QRC) and five Superintendents of Police (SPs) have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the match," Rajkot Range IG D R Patel said.

According to a report in ANI, Resident Additional Collector Harshad Vora said that Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, which restricts the assembly of more than four people at a time, has also been imposed in an area within a kilometre distance near the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.