'This could be anyone': Georgia Democrat leader calls for immediate release of Mahendra Patel, Indian-origin man 'wrongly' arrested

Indian-origin engineer Mahendra Patel has been in jail for over 43 days, with his bond hearing set for today, while his lawyer claims he was wrongly arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping, assault and battery after an incident took place at a Walmart store on March 18.

Cobb County Democratic Committee is pushing for the immediate release of Patel after the surveillance footage released by Patel's attorney proves that he was wrongly arrested and jailed."This could be Mr Patel, could be me, it could be you, it could be anybody," said Essence Johnson, chair of the Cobb County Democratic Party. She asked people to attend the bond hearing today at 11.30 am to show their support for Patel's release.

Who is Mahendra Patel? Why is he in jail for over 40 days?

Mahendra Patel is an Indian-origin engineer living in Georgia. On March 18, he went to a Walmart store where he had an interaction with Caroline Miller, a woman who was accompanied by two of her children. Miller later accused Patel of attempting to kidnap her son. Patel's attorney has released the surveillance video in which Patel and Miller can be seen speaking. Patel appeared to briefly take a child but then Miller immediately took him back.

Patel's version was that he asked Miller whether she knew where Tylenol, a medicine, is. As Miller showed him the direction, Patel felt her son was falling and so he grabbed the two-year-old when Miller pulled her son back. After this interaction, they went their separate ways. The surveillance footage showed that Patel later showed Miller something in his hand, which was the Tylenol that he had found. Miller showed him a thumbs-up, and their interaction ended there. Miller later called the police and told them that there was a tug-of-war-like situation with the child, following which Patel fled the area. Three days later, Patel was arrested and the Cobb County district attorney's office took the case to a grand jury which indicted him. A petition on change.org accumulated over 46,000 signatures till Tuesday morning. "Mahendra Patel is community pillar who for many years, has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the LPS community in the United States. His wrongful implication in a crime he did not commit is not just an individual struggle, but a collective battle against discrimination," the petition said adding that Patel is not seeking any monetary help from anyone.