GUWAHATI: Out on bail, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Saturday said the Assam police had arrested him following receipt of “instructions” from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“Instructions had come from the PMO to Assam government and Assam Police to go and arrest Jignesh Mevani (from Gujarat). Nothing less than that. It was a conspiracy,” Mevani told reporters at a press conference in Guwahati in the evening.
“The Assam police knew there was no ingredient in my tweet for a case to be registered against me. But since the instructions had come from Delhi and PMO and Modiji said so, the case was registered against me,” the MLA added.
Stating that he still stands by his tweet, he said he believed the content of it should be celebrated. He said there were communal clashes in two-three pockets of Gujarat and he, as a citizen and MLA, thought he should call for peace and harmony.
“So when Modiji was visiting Gujarat which he hails from, I had tweeted urging him to make an appeal for the maintenance of peace and harmony. But he did not do it...” Mevani said.
Talking about the second case registered in Assam, he alleged pressure was exerted on the woman police officer to file the FIR against him.
“It was an act of cowardice…BJP, RSS, Modiji and Assam government wanted to finish off my spirit but it will remain the same. File one-two more FIRs against me but I will not step back even an inch,” the MLA, who was brought to Assam on April 21 from Gujarat following his arrest the previous night, said.
Lauding the court’s order, he said, “The judiciary had clearly stated that the FIR against Jignesh Mevani was not maintainable. In fact, the court indirectly also said that the FIR was filed with malafide intentions to detain me illegally.”