Guwahati, April 26: Assam police rearrested Independent Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Monday soon after a Court in the state’s Kokrajhar district granted him bail, six days after he was arrested by Assam police in connection with an “objectionable” comment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi he made through a tweet on April 18.
The police from Assam’s Barpeta district arrested Mevani again but refused to disclose in which case the Gujarat MLA was arrested once again.
The Gujarat legislator was first arrested on the night of April 20, 2022, in connection with an “objectionable” comment against the Prime Minister he made through a tweet on April 18. He was arrested from his home state following a complaint filed by an Assam BJP leader seeking action against him under the IT Act.
Mevani was flown to Guwahati next day (on April 21, 2022) morning from where he was taken to Kokrajhar by road.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Kokrajhar district on April 21 rejected the bail petition of the MLA and Dalit activist and sent him to three-day police custody.
On Sunday, after hearing his bail petition, the court reserved its order and sent him to one-day judicial custody and asked the police to produce Mevani again in the court on Monday.
Before his re-arrest, Mevani said that it is a deep rooted conspiracy by the BJP and RSS.
“They (BJP and RSS) are doing this to tarnish my image and doing this systematically. They did it to Rohit Vemula, they did it to Chandrasekhar Azad, now they are targeting me,” he told the media outside the court complex.
The Congress, since Mevani’s arrest, held demonstrations in different parts of Assam and termed the arrest as a “conspiracy”. It also sent its legal team to Kokrajhar to look into the matter.
Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah had alleged that it is a conspiracy and “Goonda Giri” by the police, while accusing the BJP government of misusing the state’s police force to deal with a simple tweet.
A delegation of the All India United Democratic Front also visited Mevani at the police station.
CPI-M legislator Manoranjan Talukdar and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi had also met Mevani in the police station.
The 41-year-old lawmaker was charged with criminal conspiracy, offence related to place of worship, outraging religious feelings, and provocation that might cause breach of peace.
In his complaint, BJP leader Arup Kumar Dey has alleged that Mevani’s comments through his tweets are “likely to incite a section of the people belonging to a certain community”.
