Man held for throwing suspected liquor pouch into the House

In a bid to highlight rampant availability of liquor in "dry" Gujarat, a 76-year-old man who claimed to be an anti-liquor crusader was held by the Gujarat Assembly security staff after he threw a small pouch suspected to contain suspected country-made liquor into the House today.
The incident took place when members of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly were taking part in a discussion on budget allotment for the agriculture department.
An elderly man, sitting in the audience gallery with many others, suddenly threw a small pouch containing some liquid along with a pamphlet, into the main hall of the House, after which Deputy Speaker Atmaram Parmar, who chaired the session today, asked sergeants to take him outside.

The speaker asked the sergeants to keep him under detention until the evening.
The pouch which landed near the seat of Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar was also seized by the sergeants.
Identified as Babu Patel (76), the man was then taken to the office of Chief Sergeant L N Jethva after which it was learnt that the pamphlet was printed by Patel in the form of an open letter to all 182 MLAs, including ministers and the Gujarat Chief Minister.
In the letter, Patel identified himself as a social worker fighting against liquor addiction.
Patel, who is a resident of Jetalvasana village in Mehsana district, stated in his pamphlet that despite writing numerous letters to ministers urging them to curb the menace of liquor sale and consumption in the state, which has been prohibited by law, nothing has been done.