Guwahati: Gujarat’s Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani has been sent to police custody for five days. Mevani has been accused of assault and molestation by a woman police constable in Assam.

The case was filed at the Barpeta road police station on April 21, in which  Mevani has been accused under laws dealing with obscene acts or words in public, voluntarily causing hurt, using criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of his duty and outraging of modesty.

The MLA’s counsel said he will move the bail petition at a higher court in Barpeta.

Vadgam MLA and Congress leader Jignesh Mevani was taken into custody of Assam police late on 20th April night from Palanpur circuit house in Banaskantha district of North Gujarat over couple of tweets that are “withheld” by Twitter in India.

A complainant Anup Kumar Dey from Bhabanipur in Kokrajhar district in Assam has filed a case 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.

Dey has mentioned in his complaint that he came across a tweet dated April 18 by Mevani, circulation of which “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.”

Mevani had got bail in this case after remands and judicial custody. He was arrested in another case pertaining to assault on lady cop.

Mevani has been in news for his controversial and fake-news spreading tweets in the past too. In 2019, a case was registered against him after a school principal filed a complaint stating that a video that the Vadgam MLA shared on social media had damaged the reputation of the institution. Mevani deleted the tweet after some Twitter users said that the video was of a school in Egypt and not Gujarat.

In 2018, Mevani had posted a photoshopped image on twitter and later deleted it saying –  I am told that this is a photoshoped image. Apologies for posting it without verification. Deleting my previous tweet now and will be careful in future.We all should be careful abt this and whenever we get to know that it’s fabricated we should delete it.

Complaint was also registered against Mevani and Umar Khalid in 2018 for inciting the riots near Pune’s Bhima-Koregaon. The FIR was registered on charges of creating communal disharmony through the provocative speeches they delivered at Elgaar Parishad held at Shaniwarwada in Pune.

DeshGujarat