Saket Gokhale re-arrested after bail, TMC sends delegation to Gujarat

A metropolitan magistrates court here on Thursday granted bail to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale in a case related to a tweet he had allegedly posted about the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy.

But he was soon arrested in another case registered by Morbi police.

Chief metropolitan magistrate M V Chauhan here granted bail to Gokhale after he was produced before the court following the completion of his police custody, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Jitendra Yadav.

But soon afterwards he was arrested by the Morbi police in another offence registered there, Yadav said.

As it happened, the TMC in a tweet said it has sent a three-member delegation to Morbi, Gujarat in the wake of the development. “BJP4Gujarats nefarious agenda is out again,” it tweeted. “Our National spokesperson @SaketGokhale was arrested again moments after his release by the Gujarat Police, with no good reason.” Claiming that peoples democratic rights are under threat now, the TMC said “We demand his unconditional release.” The delegation comprises senior leaders Dola Sen, Khalilur Rahaman, and Asit Mal, the party said.

On December 1, Gokhale had shared a news clipping about information purportedly obtained through the Right to Information claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Morbi after the bridge collapse cost Rs 30 crore.

On Tuesday morning, the Press Information Bureau tweeted a fact check saying the information was fake.

The news clipping appeared to be from a local Gujarati newspaper.

An FIR was registered against Gokhale on the charges of forgery and printing defamatory content and he was arrested on December 6.

The prime minister had visited Gujarat on November 1, a day after a colonial-era suspension bridge on the Machchu river in Morbi town collapsed leaving 135 people dead.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)