BHOPAL: Nana Patwari, the younger brother of Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari, was taken into police custody for questioning in connection with an NDPS Act case in Indore on Thursday, prompting the state Congress chief to allege political vendetta by the BJP government.
Jitu Patwari claimed that his brother had been taken into custody without prior notice and accused the ruling BJP of using law enforcement to target political opponents.
"Indore Police has taken my brother into custody without any notice, sending this political message that the BJP is now taking 'revenge'! The grudge is over this: anyone who raises their voice against those in power/the Chief Minister, will be suppressed, even with the support of 'law'! I knew that due to the government's personal malice, false legal actions would definitely be taken against me and my family!
"Let me reiterate! We will neither fear nor bow to this politics filled with legal pressure/influence! Instead, we will fight the ground battle with even greater strength!" Patwari said in a post on X.
Senior police officials in Indore, including Police Commissioner Santosh Singh, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts by TNIE. However, a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Nana Patwari and his close aide Manav Gangwani were being questioned by the Rajendra Nagar police in connection with an NDPS Act case.
"They are only being questioned in police custody, but haven't been arrested," the officer said, adding that Nana Patwari was an accused in nine criminal cases.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-1) Narendra Rawat told reporters that two men were apprehended on Thursday following a tip-off.
"Acting on a tip-off today, we apprehended two young men. One has been identified as Irfan Khan alias Golu Chandiri, and the other as Ronny Bhai. We are currently registering an FIR against them. We recovered 10.8 grams of a narcotic substance, specifically brown sugar, from their possession; the process of registering the FIR is underway following the testing of the substance," Rawat said.
He said preliminary questioning of the two accused revealed that they were allegedly on their way to deliver the narcotics to Nana Patwari and Manav Gangwani.
"Preliminary questioning revealed that they were on their way to deliver the narcotics to two individuals: Nana Patwari and Manav Gangwani. We have checked the criminal records; Nana Patwari has nine cases against him, and we are currently verifying the records for the other three individuals. The FIR process is currently underway against the two individuals (Irfan Khan and Ronny Bhai) we apprehended based on the initial information," the DCP said.
Police said Nana Patwari and Gangwani were being questioned in connection with the case, while clarifying that they had not been arrested.
