AHMEDABAD: Two separate FIRs have been registered against Vadgam Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani and their supporters within 24 hours over alleged police station ruckuses, obstruction of official duties, intimidation and violations of election restrictions during the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation polls.
The cases stem from incidents at Pethapur police station and the Sector-13 police outpost on October 8, two days before polling. Mevani has hit back at the police and the BJP, calling the FIRs “medals of honour” and alleging that the action against him was linked to his recent allegations of a Rs 150 crore land scam involving the Thakor community.
In the first case, the Pethapur police alleged that Mevani, accompanied by a group of around 20 people, entered the police station while a Ward No. 4 Congress candidate was being questioned over a complaint involving a verbal altercation and threats during the election campaign.
According to the complaint, Mevani, a Ward No. 2 candidate, and their supporters subsequently sat outside the police station and raised slogans, allegedly attempting to mobilise members of a community against the police and disturb public order.
The incident was recorded on a mobile phone, and the footage was later circulated on Social Media. The police registered a case against Mevani, 6 other persons and unidentified persons for allegedly violating election-related restrictions and attempting to exert pressure on the police.
Second FIR over alleged storming of police outpost
The second case, registered at Sector-7 police station, relates to a separate confrontation following a complaint of intimidation during the election campaign.
Munaf Pathan, a supporter of Yunus Parmar, was accused of threatening Nilesh Vishnu Panchal, who was campaigning for another candidate.
According to Panchal's written complaint, Pathan warned him against campaigning in the area, saying, “This is our area; do not campaign here, or else you…..” Following the complaint, the Sector-7 police brought Pathan to the Sector-13 police outpost for questioning to prevent any untoward incident amid the election atmosphere.
However, the police alleged that Mevani and a group of unidentified supporters later arrived at the outpost and created a commotion.
They allegedly questioned the officers about who was in charge and why Pathan had been detained, while threatening to put an end to what they described as police “high-handedness”.
The complaint further alleges that the group obstructed police personnel from discharging their official duties and that Pathan was forcibly taken out of the outpost while questioning was still underway.
Campaigning after deadline under scanner
The Pethapur incident also triggered allegations of violations of election restrictions. According to the police complaint, Mevani continued campaigning for a Congress candidate in Pethapur late at night after the prescribed campaign period had ended. The rules also required outsiders to leave the constituency after campaigning concluded.
When senior police officers on patrol allegedly stopped him, Mevani went to the Congress office at Pethapur and recorded a video. The police alleged that his remarks sought to create discord and hostility between senior officers and junior personnel based on their ranks. The video was subsequently uploaded to his official Social Media accounts, according to the complaint.
The Sector-7 police registered the second FIR against Mevani, Rathod, Memon and around seven unidentified people in connection with the alleged incident at the outpost and the related conduct.
Mevani hits back, calls FIRs ‘medals’
Reacting to the two FIRs, Mevani launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the police, alleging that the cases were intended to target him for raising questions over an alleged land scam. “For the past week, I have been speaking out against a ‘kingpin of brokers’, an agent of the government who siphoned off land worth Rs 150 crore belonging to the Thakor community, and that has really stung him,” he said.
Invoking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism of cases against opposition leaders, Mevani added, “I want to tell this ‘kingpin of brokers’ that just as Rahul-ji says every FIR filed against us is a medal of honour, this FIR, too, is a medal for me.”
He also questioned why similar action was not being taken against BJP leaders, challenging the authorities over what he described as selective enforcement. “You filed two FIRs against me in just 24 hours; have you ever filed an FIR against a BJP minister, an MLA, or an MP in your entire life? Do you have the guts?” he asked.
The FIRs place Mevani and other Congress workers under police scrutiny over the incidents during the municipal election period. The allegations remain subject to investigation, and the registration of the cases does not establish guilt.
