Assam police late on Wednesday night took custody of Vadgam MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, reportedly over a couple of tweets claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who "considers Godse as God," should appeal for peace and harmony against communal clashes in Gujarat.
A team of four policemen from Assam took Mevani into custody at Palanpur circuit house in Banaskantha. A close aide of Mevani said that the police were not giving details of the offence and it was only after a group of Congress leaders and his supporters created a ruckus at Ahmedabad airport, that the police showed a document revealing a case against Mevani for his tweets.
The document shows that on the basis of a complaint by one Anup Kumar Dey, a resident of Bhabanipur in Kokrajhar district in Assam, a case was lodged against Mevani under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), section 153(A) (promoting enmity between two communities), 295(A) (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and sections of the IT Act.
In the complaint, the Assam police shared with Mevani, Dey mentioned that he came across a tweet dated April 18 by Mevani wherein he mentioned that the "prime minister of India Narendra Modi worships and considers 'Godse' as God and appealed the PM on his visit on April 20 to Gujarat should make an appeal to the public for the peace and harmony in areas such as Himmatnagar, Khambhat and Veraval where communal violence had taken place."
The complainant claimed that circulation of the tweet "caused widespread criticism and has the propensity to disturb public tranquility, prejudicial to maintenance of harmony among a certain section of people. It is more likely to incite a section of the masses belonging to a certain community to commit any offence against the other community in this part of the country."
The two tweets of independent MLA Mevani, who supports the Congress, have been "withheld" by Twitter. It reads, "This Tweet from @jigneshmevani80 has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand."
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