AAP leader Jadeja sent to judicial custody after ‘assault’ on policemen

On Tuesday evening, Jadeja, who has been a whistle-blower of government recruitment question paper leaks in Gujarat, reached SP office and police headquarters in Sector 27, Gandhinagar, in support of 55 aspirants of Vidyasahayak teaching posts, who had been detained by police for protesting to demand an increase in vacancies.

According to police, Jadeja allegedly assaulted a few police personnel who were on duty and tried to flee in his car. Police said that Jadeja then allegedly tried to run over policemen with his car and dragged one of them on the vehicle’s bonnet for a few metres.

Jadeja and another person Deepak Zala were booked under IPC 307 for attempt to murder and 332 for causing hurt to public servant at sector 21 police station of Gandhinagar. On Wednesday, Jadeja and Zala were presented before a Gandhinagar court where police did not seek remand.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Gandhinagar range Inspector General of Police Abhay Chudasma and Gandhinagar SP Mayur Chavda released a purported dashcam footage of Jadeja’s car showing a policeman being dragged on the bonnet.

“Yuvrajsinh Jadeja had installed a camera on the dashboard of his car and his act of mowing down policemen was also recorded in it. We have confiscated the footage and his cellphone and given it to the forensic sciences laboratory for further analysis,” said Chudasama.

Sreengrab from the footage of dashcam of Jadeja’s car.

“We have booked him under IPC 307 because if the car hadn’t been stopped by us, then the policeman on the bonnet could have died or met with serious injuries. Whenever Jadeja came up with evidence of irregularities in government recruitments, police have cooperated with him, listened to his grievances and even carried forward his message to the state government. However, be it any leader or student activist, such behaviour of mowing down cops with their car will not be tolerated,” he added.

After Jadeja was arrested, dozens of his supporters reached sector 21 police station in Gandhinagar on Tuesday night to protest.

“On Tuesday night, a few students assembled outside Sector 21 police station after being instigated by certain elements and tried to create a ruckus over there. After police force arrived, they fled the scene… we are investigating it. I would like to appeal to students to confirm the truth first before getting instigated. Police have taken strict action against those accused who gave leaked papers in the past,” Chudasma said.

Meanwhile, the AAP alleged a political conspiracy to silence Jadeja who had been vocal about irregularities in government exams.

“The manner in which Yuvrajsinh Jadeja was booked under serious offences shows a political conspiracy to break the morale of the Gujarat youth… The written examination for Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) police constable recruitment is scheduled on April 10 and the state government was nervous that Jadeja would again bring out irregularities in recruitment and they silenced him by pushing him behind bars,” said AAP leader Pravin Ram at a press conference in Ahmedabad.

Jadeja is a student activist-cum-YouTuber who joined the AAP in 2020. In the past three years, his complaints of irregularities in government recruitment examinations have resulted in the cancellation of two government exams (Bin Sachivalay clerk and office assistant exam and head clerk recruitment exam by Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB), over three dozen arrests, and an ongoing investigation into two more exams.

After the GSSSB head clerk recruitment exam was cancelled over paper leak, its chairman Asit Vora resigned on February 8. His resignation came with that of six other chairpersons of boards and corporations who quit.

Recently, Jadeja held a press conference giving evidence of an alleged paper leak in the recruitment of Van Rakshak (Forest Guard) posts. The state government had accepted irregularities at a few centers in Gujarat, however, it maintained that the test paper was not leaked.