On Friday, the Congress and other Assam opposition parties protested outside the Kokrajhar police station, demanding the release of arrested Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, who was being held there.
After an FIR was made against him by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Kokrajhar over Jignesh Mevani’s alleged abusive tweets criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a squad of Assam Police apprehended him on Wednesday night from Palanpur in Gujarat.
Mevani, the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikr Manch, a pro-Congress organization, was brought to Guwahati on Thursday afternoon and appeared at a Kokrajhar district local court.
Moreover, the judge denied his bail request and sentenced him to three days in police custody.
“Mevani has a lot of leverage among Gujarat voters, and because the state is about to go to the polls, he was imprisoned on a minor political charge and deported to Assam to keep him away. We demand his immediate unconditional release,” said Jakir Hussain Sikdar, working president of the Assam Congress.
Akhil Gogoi joined the protest regarding Jignesh Mevani’s release
MLA Akhil Gogoi of Sibsagar and Raijor Dal President and Manoranjan Talukdar of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator also joined the protest outside the Kokrajhar police station and demanded Mevani’s immediate release.
“Has Mevani’s reported post resulted in any negative consequences in Assam?” “Jignesh Mevani’s arrest is an attempt by Himanta Biswa Sarma’s BJP-led administration in Assam to appease the party’s senior leadership before the Gujarat assembly elections,” Gogoi said.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Arup Kumar Dey, the executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), who had filed a complaint against Mevani on April 19, spoke to the media and explained the complaint.
“Mevani had targeted the Prime Minister in his tweets. The PM represents 1.3 billion people of the country and he shouldn’t be targeted in this manner. I lodged the case to ensure that in future no legislator or elected representative makes such comments on social media platforms,” said Dey.
Meanwhile, Assam’s Congress has hired three top lawyers to assist Mevani with her legal issues. The party intends to file a bail application with the Gauhati high court or the Kokrajhar court next week.
“I met Mevani on Friday. He’s healthy and in a good mood. This is a politically motivated case and we are confident of securing bail soon. On Saturday, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and another lawyer from Gujarat are expected to join our legal team,” said counsel Manoj Bhagawati, one of the three lawyers hired by Congress.
However, senior police officers in Assam have remained tight-lipped about the case’s specifics and inquiry.
Also Read: JIGNESH MEVANI’S ARREST: ASSAM CM UNAWARE OF HIS IDENTITY, 2022
