Amit Shah's fake video case: Congress MLA Mevani's aide, AAP leader arrested in Gujarat
Tag: Gujarat Police
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Gujarat police seizes 80 kilos of drugs worth Rs 800 crore in Kutch
Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police confiscated 80 kg of heroin worth Rs 800 crore in the international market from the Kutch district’s coastal area on Thursday. According to officials, the police acted immediately after receiving the information. The accused abandoned the drug and fled the scene.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi Said on Social Media that “Acting on information from the Kutch East Local Crime Branch (L.C.B.), a dedicated team intervened swiftly, intercepting a group of suspected individuals engaged in illegal drug trafficking on Mithirohar beach. This operation resulted in the successful confiscation of 80 kg of cocaine.”
#WATCH | Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi says “Today Gandhidham police seized 80 kgs of cocaine, which is worth about Rs 800 crore in the international market. I have congratulated the DGP and Gandhidham police for this success…” https://t.co/C4RgnwIjgR pic.twitter.com/gkpJS8KqVJ
— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2023
“Today Gandhidham police seized 80 kgs of cocaine, which is worth about Rs 800 crore in the international market. I have congratulated the DGP and Gandhidham police for this success…,” he added.“Gujarat Police has seized 80 kg of drug from the coast, whose international market value is Rs 800 crore,” said Sagar Bagmar, Superintendent of Police, Kutch East.
“As soon as the information was received, the police jumped into action, and the accused dropped the narcotic and fled the scene. The case is being further investigated,” SP Bagmar remarked.
#WATCH | Superintendent of Police, Kutch East, Sagar Bagmar says, “…Police recovered a large consignment of drugs, as per the primary investigation by FSL it has been found to be cocaine. A police investigation is underway. During the police investigation, it was found that… https://t.co/C4RgnwIjgR pic.twitter.com/bjd4fO9vzM
— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2023
According to data tabled in the state legislative Assembly in March 2023, “From August 2021 till February 2023, the Gujarat police seized nearly 1,000 kg of drugs worth over ₹ 5,300 crore and nabbed 102 accused persons, including 56 foreign nationals, Of these 56 foreign nationals, 44 were from Pakistan, seven from Iran, three from Afghanistan, and two from Nigeria.”AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police confiscated 80 kg of heroin worth Rs 800 crore in the international market from the Kutch district’s coastal area on Thursday. According to officials, the police acted immediately after receiving the information. The accused abandoned the drug and fled the scene.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi Said on Social Media that “Acting on information from the Kutch East Local Crime Branch (L.C.B.), a dedicated team intervened swiftly, intercepting a group of suspected individuals engaged in illegal drug trafficking on Mithirohar beach. This operation resulted in the successful confiscation of 80 kg of cocaine.”
#WATCH | Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi says “Today Gandhidham police seized 80 kgs of cocaine, which is worth about Rs 800 crore in the international market. I have congratulated the DGP and Gandhidham police for this success…” https://t.co/C4RgnwIjgR pic.twitter.com/gkpJS8KqVJgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2023
“Today Gandhidham police seized 80 kgs of cocaine, which is worth about Rs 800 crore in the international market. I have congratulated the DGP and Gandhidham police for this success…,” he added.“Gujarat Police has seized 80 kg of drug from the coast, whose international market value is Rs 800 crore,” said Sagar Bagmar, Superintendent of Police, Kutch East.
“As soon as the information was received, the police jumped into action, and the accused dropped the narcotic and fled the scene. The case is being further investigated,” SP Bagmar remarked.
#WATCH | Superintendent of Police, Kutch East, Sagar Bagmar says, “…Police recovered a large consignment of drugs, as per the primary investigation by FSL it has been found to be cocaine. A police investigation is underway. During the police investigation, it was found that… https://t.co/C4RgnwIjgR pic.twitter.com/bjd4fO9vzM
— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2023
According to data tabled in the state legislative Assembly in March 2023, “From August 2021 till February 2023, the Gujarat police seized nearly 1,000 kg of drugs worth over ₹ 5,300 crore and nabbed 102 accused persons, including 56 foreign nationals, Of these 56 foreign nationals, 44 were from Pakistan, seven from Iran, three from Afghanistan, and two from Nigeria.” -
Gujarat Police arrest TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale from airport in Rajasthan, claims party; ‘no info’, says cop
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Gujarat Police has arrested its spokesperson Saket Gokhale, terming it a “political vendetta”.
In a tweet, TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Dabha MP Derek O’Brien detailed the circumstances under which the arrest was made.
Gokhale took a flight at 9 pm from New Delhi to Jaipur on Monday. When he landed, the Gujarat Police was at the airport in Rajasthan waiting for him and picked him up.
At 2 am on Tuesday, Gokhale called his mother and told her that the police were taking him to Ahmedabad and he would reach that city by noon, O’Brien claimed.
“The police let him make that two-minute phone call and then confiscated his phone and all his belongings,” the TMC leader said on Twitter.
At 2 in the morning on Tue, he called his Ma and told her that they are taking him to Ahmedabad and he would reach Ahmedabad by noon today. The police let him make that one two-minute phone call and then confiscated his phone and all his belongings. 2/3
— Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
“The cooked up case is filed with the Ahmedabad cyber cell about Saket’s tweet on the Morbi bridge collapse. All this cannot silence the All India Trinamool Congress and the Opposition. BJP taking political vendetta to another level,” he alleged.When contacted, Jaipur airport police station SHO Digpal Singh said he had no such information.
“I have no information. Nobody informed us,” he said.
NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Gujarat Police has arrested its spokesperson Saket Gokhale, terming it a “political vendetta”.
In a tweet, TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Dabha MP Derek O’Brien detailed the circumstances under which the arrest was made.
Gokhale took a flight at 9 pm from New Delhi to Jaipur on Monday. When he landed, the Gujarat Police was at the airport in Rajasthan waiting for him and picked him up.
At 2 am on Tuesday, Gokhale called his mother and told her that the police were taking him to Ahmedabad and he would reach that city by noon, O’Brien claimed.
“The police let him make that two-minute phone call and then confiscated his phone and all his belongings,” the TMC leader said on Twitter.
At 2 in the morning on Tue, he called his Ma and told her that they are taking him to Ahmedabad and he would reach Ahmedabad by noon today. The police let him make that one two-minute phone call and then confiscated his phone and all his belongings. 2/3
— Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
“The cooked up case is filed with the Ahmedabad cyber cell about Saket’s tweet on the Morbi bridge collapse. All this cannot silence the All India Trinamool Congress and the Opposition. BJP taking political vendetta to another level,” he alleged.When contacted, Jaipur airport police station SHO Digpal Singh said he had no such information.
“I have no information. Nobody informed us,” he said.
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AAP disowns hawala money, documents tell another story
Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday denied that the Rs 20-lakh cash seized by the Gujarat police belonged to it.AAP candidate from Bardoli constituency, however, gave a statement to the Surat police that the money did belong to AAP. This newspaper has a copy of the statement given by AAP candidate Rajendra Solanki to the police.
In a statement sent to this paper by AAP spokesman Pritam Singh said: “AAP has nothing to do with any such money. The AAP candidate has not given any such statement. It is an attempt by BJP to tarnish AAP image due to the growing graph of AAP in Gujarat. BJP has become very desperate and will resort to similar dirty tricks in the next one month.”
The acceptance of the policeAAP spokesperson’s statement that their candidate has not said that the money belonged to AAP is disproved by the statement of the party’s Bardoli candidate. In a statement given to the Surat rural police in Gujarati, AAP candidate Rajendra Solanki said “amo Arajdar/ fariyadi bardoli vidhansbhana umedvar tarike jaher thayel hoi Party tarf thi party na prchar prasar maate bardoli khaate saurabh prasra ne kamgiri sopvama aavel che, jethi teo paarti na prchar prasar tatha menejment nu kam kaaj kare che e rite ame temne olkhie che.”
This translates to: “I, petitioner/complainant, has been declared as a candidate for the Bardoli Assembly and the party has appointed Saurabh Parashar at Bardoli to carry out the party’s publicity and management work. That’s how I know him…” Solanki further said: “Saurabh no maara mobail par fon aavel ke mere par hamla hua hai, meri gadi ka kanch tut gaya hai,meri gadi ka kaanch tod ke paise ki chori ho gai hai, tethi hu banav banel bardoli polis stesan khaate pahonchi gayel hato tyare amo e saurbh bhai ne puchel ke shu banav banel hato tyare temna haath ma kaala color ni beg hati ane te batavi emno e janavel ke aa beg tena gaadi maathi ajanya ismo chori kari nasi gayel hata ane te beg aadil naam na isme chor no picho kari beg paachi laavel hata tevu janavel ane aa rupiya teo aangdiya pedhi maathi laavel hata ane rupiya event na kahrch maate hata.”
ALSO READ: Stench of hawala in Gujarat AAP cash theft
This translates to: “I received a call from Saurabh on my mobile saying that there was an attack on me, my car’s glass was broken, they broke my car’s glass and stole money. So I went to the Bardoli police station. When I reached the place, I asked Saurabh bhai about the incident. He said he had a black bag that an unknown person stole from his car and escaped, and the bag was returned to him by a person named Adil by chasing the robber. Adil chased and brought the bag with the money back. He (Saurabh) said that the money was received by him from an angadia (hawala operator). The money was meant for the expenses of the party event.”
The last line clearly says that Santosh collected money from an angadia (hawala operator) and it was to be used to meet the expenses of a party event.
AHMEDABAD: The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday denied that the Rs 20-lakh cash seized by the Gujarat police belonged to it.AAP candidate from Bardoli constituency, however, gave a statement to the Surat police that the money did belong to AAP. This newspaper has a copy of the statement given by AAP candidate Rajendra Solanki to the police.
In a statement sent to this paper by AAP spokesman Pritam Singh said: “AAP has nothing to do with any such money. The AAP candidate has not given any such statement. It is an attempt by BJP to tarnish AAP image due to the growing graph of AAP in Gujarat. BJP has become very desperate and will resort to similar dirty tricks in the next one month.”
The acceptance of the policeAAP spokesperson’s statement that their candidate has not said that the money belonged to AAP is disproved by the statement of the party’s Bardoli candidate. In a statement given to the Surat rural police in Gujarati, AAP candidate Rajendra Solanki said “amo Arajdar/ fariyadi bardoli vidhansbhana umedvar tarike jaher thayel hoi Party tarf thi party na prchar prasar maate bardoli khaate saurabh prasra ne kamgiri sopvama aavel che, jethi teo paarti na prchar prasar tatha menejment nu kam kaaj kare che e rite ame temne olkhie che.”
This translates to: “I, petitioner/complainant, has been declared as a candidate for the Bardoli Assembly and the party has appointed Saurabh Parashar at Bardoli to carry out the party’s publicity and management work. That’s how I know him…” Solanki further said: “Saurabh no maara mobail par fon aavel ke mere par hamla hua hai, meri gadi ka kanch tut gaya hai,meri gadi ka kaanch tod ke paise ki chori ho gai hai, tethi hu banav banel bardoli polis stesan khaate pahonchi gayel hato tyare amo e saurbh bhai ne puchel ke shu banav banel hato tyare temna haath ma kaala color ni beg hati ane te batavi emno e janavel ke aa beg tena gaadi maathi ajanya ismo chori kari nasi gayel hata ane te beg aadil naam na isme chor no picho kari beg paachi laavel hata tevu janavel ane aa rupiya teo aangdiya pedhi maathi laavel hata ane rupiya event na kahrch maate hata.”
ALSO READ: Stench of hawala in Gujarat AAP cash theft
This translates to: “I received a call from Saurabh on my mobile saying that there was an attack on me, my car’s glass was broken, they broke my car’s glass and stole money. So I went to the Bardoli police station. When I reached the place, I asked Saurabh bhai about the incident. He said he had a black bag that an unknown person stole from his car and escaped, and the bag was returned to him by a person named Adil by chasing the robber. Adil chased and brought the bag with the money back. He (Saurabh) said that the money was received by him from an angadia (hawala operator). The money was meant for the expenses of the party event.”
The last line clearly says that Santosh collected money from an angadia (hawala operator) and it was to be used to meet the expenses of a party event.
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‘Outsiders’ ran poll-related hawala racket in Gujarat
Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Police has unearthed a network of around 30 people from outside the state who are being allegedly used by the Aam Aadmi Party for distributing hawala money for the assembly elections.
The statement given by AAP’s Bardoli assembly constituency candidate Rajendra Solanki to the Surat Rural Police has led to this disclosure. Solanki told the police in a written statement that the person who has been identified as his driver was actually an AAP worker from outside the state.
“Saurabh has been identified as my driver. But he is not my driver. He is working for AAP, and I have met him just two or three times. He was sent from Delhi by the party,” said Rajendra Solanki. “When I went to the police station to help Saurabh, he told me the money was meant for AAP party’s campaign expenses and that he had brought it from an angadia (hawala operator),” said Solanki.
While investigating the source of the stolen black money, the police found that for the 182 seats in Gujarat, more than 30 people from outside Gujarat have been hired by AAP to allegedly to collect hawala money from angadias and distribute to partymen for meeting election expnses. Santosh Parasar alias Saurabh Pandey, named in the police complaint in connection with the Rs 20-lakh loot, is one such person who was given the responsibility of handling cash for nine South Gujarat seats.
Police said that during transfer of money from one place to another, special care is taken to ensure that the local party leaders remain unaware of the operation. This is done to keep the money trail a secret.The incident that blew the lid off the hawala operation was the October 12 loot in Surat.
Santosh Parashar, the alleged driver of Rajendra Solanki had parked Solanki’s car near Bardoli police station when two unidentified persons with covered faces broke a window of the car and looted the bag containing Rs 20 lakh cash.
A man named Aadil Memon saw the loot. He chased the robbers on his motorcycle for a couple of km, and called for help. After trying to escape, the robbers threw the bag on the road and fled. Aadil carried the bag full of cash to the police station.
Candidates spills the beanA statement given by AAP’s Bardoli assembly constituency candidate Rajendra Solanki to Surat Rural Police has led to the disclosure that outsiders used to run a hawala network. Solanki told the police in a written statement the person who has been identified as his driver was actually an AAP worker from outside the state.
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Police has unearthed a network of around 30 people from outside the state who are being allegedly used by the Aam Aadmi Party for distributing hawala money for the assembly elections.
The statement given by AAP’s Bardoli assembly constituency candidate Rajendra Solanki to the Surat Rural Police has led to this disclosure. Solanki told the police in a written statement that the person who has been identified as his driver was actually an AAP worker from outside the state.
“Saurabh has been identified as my driver. But he is not my driver. He is working for AAP, and I have met him just two or three times. He was sent from Delhi by the party,” said Rajendra Solanki. “When I went to the police station to help Saurabh, he told me the money was meant for AAP party’s campaign expenses and that he had brought it from an angadia (hawala operator),” said Solanki.
While investigating the source of the stolen black money, the police found that for the 182 seats in Gujarat, more than 30 people from outside Gujarat have been hired by AAP to allegedly to collect hawala money from angadias and distribute to partymen for meeting election expnses. Santosh Parasar alias Saurabh Pandey, named in the police complaint in connection with the Rs 20-lakh loot, is one such person who was given the responsibility of handling cash for nine South Gujarat seats.
Police said that during transfer of money from one place to another, special care is taken to ensure that the local party leaders remain unaware of the operation. This is done to keep the money trail a secret.
The incident that blew the lid off the hawala operation was the October 12 loot in Surat.Santosh Parashar, the alleged driver of Rajendra Solanki had parked Solanki’s car near Bardoli police station when two unidentified persons with covered faces broke a window of the car and looted the bag containing Rs 20 lakh cash.
A man named Aadil Memon saw the loot. He chased the robbers on his motorcycle for a couple of km, and called for help. After trying to escape, the robbers threw the bag on the road and fled. Aadil carried the bag full of cash to the police station.
Candidates spills the bean
A statement given by AAP’s Bardoli assembly constituency candidate Rajendra Solanki to Surat Rural Police has led to the disclosure that outsiders used to run a hawala network. Solanki told the police in a written statement the person who has been identified as his driver was actually an AAP worker from outside the state.
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Ahead of Kejriwal’s town hall interactions, Gujarat Police ‘raids’ AAP office in Ahmedabad
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Police conducted a raid at the AAP office in Ahmedabad on Sunday, the party said while claiming the ruling BJP is “extremely rattled” by the “immense support” it is getting in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.
Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Gujarat unit said on Twitter that the raid was carried out soon after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad.
Reacting to the development, Kejriwal said the Gujarat police found nothing at the party office as the leaders and workers of the AAP are “hardcore honest”.
There was no immediate response from the Gujarat Police to the AAP’s claim.
“The BJP is extremely rattled by the immense support that the AAP is getting from the people of Gujarat. There is a storm in favour of the AAP in Gujarat,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
“Raids have started in Gujarat too after Delhi. Nothing was found in Delhi, nothing was found in Gujarat too. We are hardcore honest and patriotic people,” he added.
The AAP national convenor hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after his party’s Gujarat unit leader Isudan Gadhvi claimed on Twitter that police raided the party office and carried out searches for two hours, soon after Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad.
“Gujarat Police’s raid at the Aam Aadmi Party’s office as soon as Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad. Carried out searches for two hours and left. Nothing found. Said they will come again,” Gadhvi said in a tweet in Hindi.
“The BJP is so scared with the growing popularity of the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat that now it is misusing power to get our office raided,” the Gujarat unit of the AAP said in a tweet.
After Delhi, now they have started getting raids conducted in Gujarat too.
Be it Delhi or Gujarat, they are not going to find anything, it added.
The Gujarat Assembly polls are slated to be held later in the year.
The raid comes ahead of Kejriwal’s interactions with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen and lawyers in three different town hall meetings in Ahmedabad on Monday, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year.
Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener Kejriwal reached Ahmedabad on Sunday evening to attend various public programmes and meet local party leaders on Monday and Tuesday as part of the AAP’s election campaign in BJP-ruled Gujarat.
As per the schedule shared by the Gujarat AAP unit, Kejriwal will participate in three town hall meets here on Monday where he will interact with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen, and lawyers.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal will hold another town hall meet with sanitation workers.
He will also hold discussions with local AAP leaders and workers and welcome new members to the party in Ahmedabad.
He will also announce an “important guarantee” for the people of Gujarat, as per the party.
Kejriwal on Sunday said his next “guarantee” to the people of Gujarat will be to provide a “corruption-free” government.
During his multiple visits to Gujarat in the recent past, Kejriwal had announced a slew of “guarantees”, including allowances for women and unemployed youth, free and quality healthcare and education, creation of jobs, and free electricity up to 300 units.
NEW DELHI: Police conducted a raid at the AAP office in Ahmedabad on Sunday, the party said while claiming the ruling BJP is “extremely rattled” by the “immense support” it is getting in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.
Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Gujarat unit said on Twitter that the raid was carried out soon after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad.
Reacting to the development, Kejriwal said the Gujarat police found nothing at the party office as the leaders and workers of the AAP are “hardcore honest”.
There was no immediate response from the Gujarat Police to the AAP’s claim.
“The BJP is extremely rattled by the immense support that the AAP is getting from the people of Gujarat. There is a storm in favour of the AAP in Gujarat,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
“Raids have started in Gujarat too after Delhi. Nothing was found in Delhi, nothing was found in Gujarat too. We are hardcore honest and patriotic people,” he added.
The AAP national convenor hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after his party’s Gujarat unit leader Isudan Gadhvi claimed on Twitter that police raided the party office and carried out searches for two hours, soon after Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad.
“Gujarat Police’s raid at the Aam Aadmi Party’s office as soon as Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad. Carried out searches for two hours and left. Nothing found. Said they will come again,” Gadhvi said in a tweet in Hindi.
“The BJP is so scared with the growing popularity of the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat that now it is misusing power to get our office raided,” the Gujarat unit of the AAP said in a tweet.
After Delhi, now they have started getting raids conducted in Gujarat too.
Be it Delhi or Gujarat, they are not going to find anything, it added.
The Gujarat Assembly polls are slated to be held later in the year.
The raid comes ahead of Kejriwal’s interactions with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen and lawyers in three different town hall meetings in Ahmedabad on Monday, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year.
Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener Kejriwal reached Ahmedabad on Sunday evening to attend various public programmes and meet local party leaders on Monday and Tuesday as part of the AAP’s election campaign in BJP-ruled Gujarat.
As per the schedule shared by the Gujarat AAP unit, Kejriwal will participate in three town hall meets here on Monday where he will interact with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen, and lawyers.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal will hold another town hall meet with sanitation workers.
He will also hold discussions with local AAP leaders and workers and welcome new members to the party in Ahmedabad.
He will also announce an “important guarantee” for the people of Gujarat, as per the party.
Kejriwal on Sunday said his next “guarantee” to the people of Gujarat will be to provide a “corruption-free” government.
During his multiple visits to Gujarat in the recent past, Kejriwal had announced a slew of “guarantees”, including allowances for women and unemployed youth, free and quality healthcare and education, creation of jobs, and free electricity up to 300 units.
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Gujarat Police arrest filmmaker Avinash Das over tweets, to look for past ‘objectionable’ posts too
By PTI
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police on Wednesday arrested filmmaker Avinash Das in a case related to sharing on Twitter a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal.
The Ahmedabad crime branch, which arrested him from Mumbai, was also looking into another tweet of his which appeared to hurt the sentiments of the Hindus, and going through his older social media posts, an official said.
As per the crime branch, Das intentionally gave a misleading caption to Shah’s photo in question.
Das, director of the Swara Bhaskar-starrer “Anaarkali of Aarah”, was picked up from his Mumbai residence by a crime branch team on Tuesday.
He was produced before a magistrate’s court here on Wednesday afternoon.
The crime branch sought his custody for seven days, but Metropolitan Magistrate M V Chauhan sent Das in its custody only till Thursday afternoon.
“Das was officially arrested at 4 am on Wednesday. We are now scanning his social media accounts to check if he had posted any other offensive material in the past,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Chaitanya Mandlik.
In a release, the crime branch said it has found another tweet posted by Das which appeared to be offensive and could hurt the sentiments of Hindus.
In this Hindi tweet posted on May 1, 2016, cited in the Crime Branch release, Das had stated in a satirical way that he cannot give up alcohol because gods reside in different types of liquor.
Das had directed the 2017 film “Anaarkali of Aarah” starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi, and the 2021 movie “Raat Baaki Hai”.
He had also helmed Netflix series “She”.
The crime branch registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the filmmaker under section 469 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code as well as provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and the Information Technology Act, as he had allegedly also posted on his Instagram and Facebook accounts a photo of a woman draped in the national flag.
The FIR against 46-year-old Das was registered in June after he shared a photo showing IAS officer Singhal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, saying something to Shah.
As per the FIR, in the caption to the photo, Das claimed the picture was taken a few days before Singhal’s arrest, while it was actually from 2017.
The misleading caption was given to tarnish Shah’s image, the crime branch claimed.
The sessions court here in June had rejected Das’s plea for anticipatory or pre-arrest bail, observing that he had deliberately claimed that Shah’s photo with Singhal had been taken a few days before the latter’s arrest with the intention to “tarnish the image of the Home Minister.” The other photo, of a woman draped in the national flag, showed Das’s “mental perverseness”, the court had further said.
The Gujarat High Court had also rejected his anticipatory bail application, observing that Das had violated the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act by circulating a painting showing a person wearing a dress made of the tricolour.
The Bombay High Court too had rejected Das’s transit anticipatory bail application.
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police on Wednesday arrested filmmaker Avinash Das in a case related to sharing on Twitter a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal.
The Ahmedabad crime branch, which arrested him from Mumbai, was also looking into another tweet of his which appeared to hurt the sentiments of the Hindus, and going through his older social media posts, an official said.
As per the crime branch, Das intentionally gave a misleading caption to Shah’s photo in question.
Das, director of the Swara Bhaskar-starrer “Anaarkali of Aarah”, was picked up from his Mumbai residence by a crime branch team on Tuesday.
He was produced before a magistrate’s court here on Wednesday afternoon.
The crime branch sought his custody for seven days, but Metropolitan Magistrate M V Chauhan sent Das in its custody only till Thursday afternoon.
“Das was officially arrested at 4 am on Wednesday. We are now scanning his social media accounts to check if he had posted any other offensive material in the past,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Chaitanya Mandlik.
In a release, the crime branch said it has found another tweet posted by Das which appeared to be offensive and could hurt the sentiments of Hindus.
In this Hindi tweet posted on May 1, 2016, cited in the Crime Branch release, Das had stated in a satirical way that he cannot give up alcohol because gods reside in different types of liquor.
Das had directed the 2017 film “Anaarkali of Aarah” starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi, and the 2021 movie “Raat Baaki Hai”.
He had also helmed Netflix series “She”.
The crime branch registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the filmmaker under section 469 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code as well as provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and the Information Technology Act, as he had allegedly also posted on his Instagram and Facebook accounts a photo of a woman draped in the national flag.
The FIR against 46-year-old Das was registered in June after he shared a photo showing IAS officer Singhal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, saying something to Shah.
As per the FIR, in the caption to the photo, Das claimed the picture was taken a few days before Singhal’s arrest, while it was actually from 2017.
The misleading caption was given to tarnish Shah’s image, the crime branch claimed.
The sessions court here in June had rejected Das’s plea for anticipatory or pre-arrest bail, observing that he had deliberately claimed that Shah’s photo with Singhal had been taken a few days before the latter’s arrest with the intention to “tarnish the image of the Home Minister.” The other photo, of a woman draped in the national flag, showed Das’s “mental perverseness”, the court had further said.
The Gujarat High Court had also rejected his anticipatory bail application, observing that Das had violated the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act by circulating a painting showing a person wearing a dress made of the tricolour.
The Bombay High Court too had rejected Das’s transit anticipatory bail application.
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‘Setalvad was part of conspiracy to frame then-Gujarat CM Modi in 2002 riots cases’, claims SIT
By PTI
AHMEDABAD: Social activist Teesta Setalvad was part of a larger conspiracy to frame the then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others as accused in the post-Godhra riots cases, and attempted to destabilize the BJP government using funds collected in the name of victims, a state SIT told a court on Wednesday.
Setalvad was arrested last month by the Ahmedabad crime branch along with former DGP RB Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in the 2002 riots cases.
The Mumbai-based activist, currently in jail in Gujarat, has sought bail.
A special investigation team (SIT) of the Gujarat police, probing the charges against Setalvad and the two former police officers, has opposed her bail plea.
Arguing against the bail plea of Setalvad, special public prosecutor (SPP) Mitesh Amin told the court of sessions judge DD Thakkar in Ahmedabad that she was part of a larger conspiracy to frame the then-chief minister Modi and others as accused in the riots cases.
Amin told the court Setalvad received funds on the ground they were meant to be distributed among the victims of the 2002 riots, but the money never reached the intended beneficiaries.
The SPP claimed the money never reached the victims, and it was rather used to destabilise the then-BJP government and show it engineered and sponsored the riots, which were triggered after a mob torched a coach of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra station on February 27, 2002, leading to the death of 59 passengers.
The conspiracy involved Congress leaders like the late Ahmed Patel and others, and all this was done at the behest of the opposition party, he said.
Further arguments will continue on Thursday.
The court is hearing the bail pleas of both Setalvad and Sreekumar.
They have already refuted all the charges levelled against them and claimed there was no merit in them.
READ HERE | Chimanlal Setalvad did not give clean chit to Gen Dyer for Jallianwala Bagh massacre: Historians
Setalvad, along with Sreekumar and Bhatt, was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 468 (forgery) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence), among other offences after arrest.
The SIT, in its affidavit submitted before the court last week, had accused Setalvad of conspiring with the two other accused — Sreekumar and Bhatt — for “dismissal or destabilisation of the elected government in Gujarat by hook or by crook.
” Opposing her bail plea, the SIT said in the affidavit that the conspiracy was carried out at the behest of late Patel.
At Patel’s behest, Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh after the post-Godhra riots, the probe team alleged.
Setalvad used to meet the leaders of a “prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases”, the SIT further claimed in the affidavit.
Last month, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband Ehsan Jafri, a former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, killed during the riots in Ahmedabad.
The plea alleged a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
But the court upheld a previous SIT’s clean chit to Modi (who was Gujarat CM from 2001 to 2014) and 63 others.
The apex court had said there is no “title of material” to support the allegation that the communal violence that took place after the Godhra train burning incident was a “pre-planned event” owing to a conspiracy hatched at the highest level in the state.
Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Ahmedabad’s Gulberg Society during the violence on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident.
The central government had informed the Rajya Sabha in May 2005 that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed in the statewide riots.
AHMEDABAD: Social activist Teesta Setalvad was part of a larger conspiracy to frame the then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others as accused in the post-Godhra riots cases, and attempted to destabilize the BJP government using funds collected in the name of victims, a state SIT told a court on Wednesday.
Setalvad was arrested last month by the Ahmedabad crime branch along with former DGP RB Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in the 2002 riots cases.
The Mumbai-based activist, currently in jail in Gujarat, has sought bail.
A special investigation team (SIT) of the Gujarat police, probing the charges against Setalvad and the two former police officers, has opposed her bail plea.
Arguing against the bail plea of Setalvad, special public prosecutor (SPP) Mitesh Amin told the court of sessions judge DD Thakkar in Ahmedabad that she was part of a larger conspiracy to frame the then-chief minister Modi and others as accused in the riots cases.
Amin told the court Setalvad received funds on the ground they were meant to be distributed among the victims of the 2002 riots, but the money never reached the intended beneficiaries.
The SPP claimed the money never reached the victims, and it was rather used to destabilise the then-BJP government and show it engineered and sponsored the riots, which were triggered after a mob torched a coach of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra station on February 27, 2002, leading to the death of 59 passengers.
The conspiracy involved Congress leaders like the late Ahmed Patel and others, and all this was done at the behest of the opposition party, he said.
Further arguments will continue on Thursday.
The court is hearing the bail pleas of both Setalvad and Sreekumar.
They have already refuted all the charges levelled against them and claimed there was no merit in them.
READ HERE | Chimanlal Setalvad did not give clean chit to Gen Dyer for Jallianwala Bagh massacre: Historians
Setalvad, along with Sreekumar and Bhatt, was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 468 (forgery) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence), among other offences after arrest.
The SIT, in its affidavit submitted before the court last week, had accused Setalvad of conspiring with the two other accused — Sreekumar and Bhatt — for “dismissal or destabilisation of the elected government in Gujarat by hook or by crook.
” Opposing her bail plea, the SIT said in the affidavit that the conspiracy was carried out at the behest of late Patel.
At Patel’s behest, Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh after the post-Godhra riots, the probe team alleged.
Setalvad used to meet the leaders of a “prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases”, the SIT further claimed in the affidavit.
Last month, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband Ehsan Jafri, a former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, killed during the riots in Ahmedabad.
The plea alleged a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
But the court upheld a previous SIT’s clean chit to Modi (who was Gujarat CM from 2001 to 2014) and 63 others.
The apex court had said there is no “title of material” to support the allegation that the communal violence that took place after the Godhra train burning incident was a “pre-planned event” owing to a conspiracy hatched at the highest level in the state.
Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Ahmedabad’s Gulberg Society during the violence on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident.
The central government had informed the Rajya Sabha in May 2005 that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed in the statewide riots.
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2002 Gujarat riots: SIT’s charges against Ahmed Patel manufactured, mischievous, says Congress
By Agencies
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday dismissed as “mischievous and manufactured”, Gujarat police SIT’s charges that its leader Ahmed Patel had financed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and hatched a conspiracy to dislodge the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led state government.
“This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. It was his unwillingness and incapacity to control this carnage that had led the-then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind the chief minister of his ‘rajdharma’,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
The statement said that this is Prime Minister’s political vendetta machine which does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries.
“This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a ‘clean chit’ to the chief minister,” Jairam said.
He said giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics for years.
“This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.”
Setalvad has been arrested, along with former IPS officers R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt, for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the Gujarat riots case.
Citing the statements of a witness, the SIT HAD said the conspiracy was carried out at the behest of late Ahmed Patel. At Patel’s behest, Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh after post-Godhra riots in 2002, it alleged.
Setalvad used to meet the leaders of a “prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases,” the SIT further claimed.
It cited another witness to claim that Setalvad in 2006 had asked a Congress leader why the party was giving “chance to only Shabana and Javed” and not making her a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed during violence at the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002. His widow Zakia Jafri challenged the SIT’s clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi who was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time.
After 58 pilgrims were burnt alive on the Sabarmati Express train at Gujarat’s Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002, riots broke out across the state in which more than 1,000 people were killed. (ANI)
ALSO READ | Pinarayi flays Congress’ ‘silence’ on arrests of RB Sreekumar, Teesta Setalvad
(With online desk inputs)
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday dismissed as “mischievous and manufactured”, Gujarat police SIT’s charges that its leader Ahmed Patel had financed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and hatched a conspiracy to dislodge the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led state government.
“This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. It was his unwillingness and incapacity to control this carnage that had led the-then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind the chief minister of his ‘rajdharma’,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
The statement said that this is Prime Minister’s political vendetta machine which does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries.
“This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a ‘clean chit’ to the chief minister,” Jairam said.
He said giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics for years.
“This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.”
Setalvad has been arrested, along with former IPS officers R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt, for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the Gujarat riots case.
Citing the statements of a witness, the SIT HAD said the conspiracy was carried out at the behest of late Ahmed Patel. At Patel’s behest, Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh after post-Godhra riots in 2002, it alleged.
Setalvad used to meet the leaders of a “prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases,” the SIT further claimed.
It cited another witness to claim that Setalvad in 2006 had asked a Congress leader why the party was giving “chance to only Shabana and Javed” and not making her a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed during violence at the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002. His widow Zakia Jafri challenged the SIT’s clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi who was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time.
After 58 pilgrims were burnt alive on the Sabarmati Express train at Gujarat’s Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002, riots broke out across the state in which more than 1,000 people were killed. (ANI)
ALSO READ | Pinarayi flays Congress’ ‘silence’ on arrests of RB Sreekumar, Teesta Setalvad
(With online desk inputs)
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DIG-led team to probe case against Setalvad
Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case against activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officers RB Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt who have been accused of “abusing the process of law by fabricating evidence to frame innocent people” in connection with the 2002 communal riots.
The SIT will be headed by DIG (ATS) Deepan Bhadran and will include DCP (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik, ATS SP Sunil Joshi and ASP B C Solanki. After Teesta Setalvad was detained in Mumbai on Friday evening, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) handed her over to the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Sunday.
After bringing the activist to Ahmedabad, the sleuths got her medical checkup done at Civil Hospital. Talking to media Setalvad alleged that the ATS sleuths assaulted her. “They have done my medical. I have a big bruise on my hand, this is what the ATS did to me. They are taking me to the magistrate’s court. I’m not guilty. I will tell everything in court,” she said.
DCP (Crime Division) Chaitanya Mandlik IPS, meanwhile, said his department registered the FIR offense after the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling. The top court had dismissed the plea by Zakia Ehsan Jafri against the SIT’s closure report.