Assam police arrest Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani for 'offensive' tweets targeting PM Modi

"Police yet to share FIR copy with us. Prima facie, we have been informed about some cases filed against him in Assam," his team wrote on Instagram.

Updated on: Apr 21, 2022, 08:35:53 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Shivani Kumar | Edited by Poulomi Ghosh

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The Assam police on Wednesday arrested Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani from Gujarat, his team announced on social media. According to a post on Instagram, Mevani was arrested from Palanpur circuit house and was taken to Ahmedabad last night. From there, he will be taken to Guwahati via flight.

Mevani was arrested from by Assam Police from Palanpur Circuit House around 11:30 pm last night.  (ANI)

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A post shared by Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani)

The staunch critic of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an independent MLA from Vadagam, Mevani was arrested at around 11:30pm by a team of Kokrajhar district police in Assam.

He was arrested following an FIR filed against him for offensive tweets targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The charges include several sections of IPC for criminal conspiracy, injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion of any class, promoting enmity between two communities, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, criminal intimidation and also some sections of IT Act.

"Police yet to share FIR copy with us. Prima facie, we have been informed about some cases filed against him in Assam," his team wrote on Instagram.

Meanwhile, his Twitter account also shows that two of his recent tweets have been withheld in response to the "legal demand" by the authorities.

Image grab from Mevani's Twitter account show two of tweets have been withheld.

Following the leader's arrest, his team called on his supporters to come together against "the gross atrocity against" the young leader. "Jignesh Mveani has always fought for the rights of the poor," his team added.

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