Held over 'fake' tweet on PM's Morbi visit, Trinamool's Saket Gokhale gets bail

Saket Gokhale was held earlier this week over a tweet on Morbi.

Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale, who was arrested just days ago over a tweet on the Morbi bridge in Gujarat, has now been granted bail, his party colleague Derek O'Brien tweeted on Thursday. His arrest had emerged as the latest flashpoint between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. The tweet apparently pertained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the site of the bridge collapse incident.

Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale seen in a file photo.

In his tweet, the Rajya Sabha member wrote: “National spokesperson of @AITCofficial the fearless @SaketGokhale has been granted bail mins ago in Ahmedabad. Thank you to the legal team lead by @advmajeedmemon ex-Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. Inspired by @MamataOfficial all of us are always ready to fight the good fight. (sic)". The member of parliament on Tuesday said that the TMC national spokesperson was held in Rajasthan on Monday by the Gujarat Police.

An officer was quoted as saying by HT in earlier report that the post was linked to alleged fake post put out by the Trinamool leader on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Gujarat's Morbi where the collapse of a suspension bridge killed over 130 people, including many children. Gokhale had tweeted a clipping of an alleged Right to Information (RTI) query reply and wrote that the PM’s visit had cost ₹30 crore. On December 1, the Press Information Bureau had denied the authenticity of the RTI response. “This claim is fake. No such RTI response has been given,” it said.

(With inputs from PTI)