Saket Gokhale was taken into custody by the Gujarat Police last night. (file)
New Delhi:
Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale posted fake documents to post false allegations related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi in Gujarat after the bridge collapse, police sources alleged today, a day after his dramatic arrest in Rajasthan.
Trinamool national spokesperson Saket Gokhale was detained in Jaipur late last night for a tweet spreading “fake news” on PM Modi. The arrest followed a police complaint by BJP leader Amit Kothari in Ahmedabad.
He will face charges such as forgery, which could lead to five years in prison.
The December 1 tweet cited a Right to Information (RTI) reply that said “PM’s visit to Morbi cost Gujarat government Rs 30 crore”, compensation paid to victims (total Rs 5 crore) ) is much higher than It was flagged as “fake” by the government’s fact-checking unit the same day.
In a tweet quoting an RTI, it is being claimed that Rs 30 crore was spent on the PM’s visit to Morbi.#PIBFactCheck
▪️This is the claim #fake,
▪️ No such RTI reply has been given. pic.twitter.com/CEVgvWgGTv
– PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 1, 2022
Gujarat Police Cyber Cell sources told NDTV that Saket Gokhale is believed to have used the font of the newspaper Gujarat Samachar in the media clipping in his tweet and claimed it was an RTI reply.
Gujarat Samachar denied filing any RTI.
Sources said, “The entire RTI was prepared by Saket Gokhale.” He also pointed out that it usually takes about two months to respond to an RTI.
Mr Gokhale told reporters it was “an irony” that he was arrested for the tweet when the culprits of the bridge tragedy – the owner of the Orewa company appointed to repair and maintain the bridge – were “free”.
Gujarat police confirmed Mr Gokhale’s detention only after Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien tweeted and called it “political vendetta” by the BJP. They said Mr Gokhale had flown from Delhi to Jaipur on Monday night, from where he was “picked up” by the Gujarat police. He had recently undergone heart surgery and was on a personal visit to Jaipur.
Rajasthan Police said that they have no clue. According to Gujarat Police sources, he was never informed.
“Saket Gokhale was an accused in a case in the state of Gujarat. Gujarat police went and took him into custody. We followed the legal process. Saket Gokhale was not informed or asked to come to Gujarat. We stopped him in Rajasthan And picked him up.” From there,” sources said.
Gujarat police chased them till Ahmedabad. Sources say that he was given a phone call of 1.5 to 2 minutes before his mobile was seized. Sources said that he called his mother and told her not to worry.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a Trinamool chief, said that Saket Gokhale had only tweeted what she thought was a news report. Speaking to reporters during her visit to Ajmer, she said, “This is a vendetta. I condemn it.”
More than 130 people were killed when a renovated colonial-era bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi city in October.
Prime Minister Modi visited the city in his home state on 1 November and met the injured besides visiting the site of the tragedy.