The National Spokesperson of TMC was arrested in Jaipur on Monday, December 5, 2022. Although in Rajasthan, Gokhale was arrested by Gujarat police over a tweet he made in the aftermath of the Morbi bridge tragedy.
According to Derek O’Brien, TMC leader, Gokhale was to be taken to Ahmedabad on December 6.
Credits – PIB
TMC has not specified the tweet over which the spokesperson has been arrested. However, the fact-checking unit of the government highlighted a tweet made by Gokhale. The tweet carried a newspaper clipping, which read “RTI revealed the PM’s visit to Morbi cost ₹ 30 crores”. On December 1, a fact-checking activity by the Press Information Bureau stated that the claim was ‘fake’.
TMC national spokesperson @SaketGokhale arrested by Gujarat Police.
Saket took a 9pm flight from New Delhi to Jaipur on Mon. When he landed, Gujarat Police was at the airport in Rajasthan waiting for him and picked him up. 1/3
— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
At 2 in the morning on Tue, he called his Ma and told her that they are taking him to Ahmedabad and he would reach Ahmedabad by noon today. The police let him make that one two-minute phone call and then confiscated his phone and all his belongings. 2/3
— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
The cooked up case is filed with the Ahmedabad cyber cell about Saket’s tweet on the Morbi bridge collapse.
All this cannot silence @AITCofficial and the Opposition. BJP taking political vendetta to another level. 3/3— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
On October 30, a 143-year-old bridge in Morbi collapsed. The collapse resulted in the death of over 130 people. The colonial-era bridge was closed for several months, as it was under renovation. Days after the completion of the process, the iconic tourist favourite bridge collapsed and resulted in havoc.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien stated that the case is a ‘cooked up’ story and also termed the event as a ‘political vendetta’ by the ruling party.
The governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat have not reacted to the issue. “I have no information. Nobody informed us.” said the Jaipur police in-charge Digpal Singh, when contacted by PTI.
