AHMEDABAD: Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale was on Tuesday arrested by the Gujarat Police for tweeting alleged fake news on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi following a tragic bridge collapse there.
“Gokhale was arrested in Jaipur, Rajasthan, during the early hours on Tuesday by the Gujarat Police and brought to Ahmedabad,” based on a complaint filed by a citizen, police officials said. An Ahmedabad court later remanded him in police custody for two days.
Before entering the court, Gokhale told the media, “It is very sad that I have been arrested for a tweet on the PM’s visit.” As many as 136 people had died in the bridge collapse on October 30.
Gokhale tweeted a purported clipping of a Gujarati daily citing an RTI reply on the cost of Modi’s visit to Morbi. But government officials denied putting out the information under RTI, and the newspaper denied publishing it, Assistant Commissioner of Police Jitendra Yadav said.Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee stood by Gokhale and condemned what she called the BJP’s vindictive attitude.