Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday termed as "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional" the arrest of its MLA Jignesh Mevani, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot imprison the truth by trying to "crush" dissent.
Mevani was arrested by the Assam Police from Palanpur town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Wednesday night over a tweet and taken to Assam by air in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.
Flaying the arrest of Mevani, Gandhi said it is an insult to the people who elected him as a public representative.
"Modi ji, you can try to crush dissent by abusing the state machinery. But you can never imprison the truth," Gandhi said on Twitter, using hashtag "#DaroMat" and "#SatyamevaJayate".
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Modi ji, you can try to crush dissent by abusing the state machinery.
But you can never imprison the truth.#DaroMat #SatyamevaJayate pic.twitter.com/Qw4wVhLclH
He tagged a report saying that Assam Police has taken Mevani into custody over his tweets on Prime Minister Modi.
The prominent Dalit leader from Gujarat was arrested soon after a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with offences related to promoting enmity between communities, was registered at Kokrajhar police station in Assam, said his aide Suresh Jat.
Apart from section 153A of the IPC, Mevani has been booked under section 295A (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (provocation with an intention to break public peace) and under relevant sections of the IT Act.
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"As per a document shared by the officials of the Assam police, an FIR has been lodged over a tweet by Mevani a few days back. However, the tweet has been withheld by Twitter. It was about Nathuram Godse. Mevani was first brought to Ahmedabad by road and then taken to Assam by air early today morning," he added.
Mevani is independent MLA from Vadgam seat in Banaskantha. He recently joined Congress.
In a statement, Mevani's office said he was arrested by Assam police from Palanpur circuit House at 11:30 pm on Wednesday.
Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor and other Congress leaders rushed to Ahmedabad Airport after learning about his arrest and shouted slogans against the BJP government.
To protest Mevani's arrest, Congress leaders and workers, including Thakor, Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathva and former Gujarat Congress chief Siddharth Patel, staged a protest at Sarangpur circle and raised anti-BJP slogans.
Following their attempt to block the busy road, local police briefly detained nearly 20 Congress workers and leaders, including Thakor, said an official of the city police control room.
(With PTI inputs)
