Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien has claimed that the party’s spokesperson Saket Gokhale has been arrested again after having been granted bail. Saket Gokhale was earlier arrested for a tweet in which he endorsed alleged fake news about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi after the bridge over the Machchhu river collapsed.
Derek O’Brien said that Gokhale was arrested without any notice or warrant while he was leaving the Cyber Police Station in Ahmedabad. Chief metropolitan magistrate M V Chauhan had earlier granted bail to Gokhale after he was produced before the court following the completion of his police custody, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Jitendra Yadav.
In a subsequent tweet, O’Brien said that Saket Gokhale has a serious cardiac condition and such “harassment” could be dangerous for him.
Gokhale was arrested on Decenber for his tweet on the Morbi Bridge collapse incident that killed 134 people.
Gokhale recently tweeted a news clipping of a Gujarati newspaper that claimed that an RTI query revealed that the government had spent Rs 30 crore on Modi’s visit to Morbi after the bridge collapse incident. The news was flagged as “fake” by the government’s fact-check unit the same day.
The FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 465, 469, 471 (all pertaining to forgery) and 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory).
The forensic science laboratory (FSL) report on the Morbi bridge collapse stated that the cable of the bridge was old and rusting away. The Investigating Officer (IO) also said that only the flooring of the bridge was changed and not the cables.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the arrest of TMC national spokesperson Saket Gokhale by Gujarat Police smacked of vindictive attitude by the BJP, PTI reported.
“It’s a very bad, and sad (incident). Saket (Gokhale) is a bright man. He is very popular on social media. He has made no mistake,” Banerjee said.
Thursday’s arrest came in another case registered by the Morbi Police