Ajmer/IBNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited Ajmer Sharif Tuesday, called Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhales arrest sad and said this is a vindictive attitude of the Centre.
Speaking to reporters at Ajmer Sharif over Saket Gokhales arrest, Mamata Banerjee said: Its very bad and sad. Salet is a very important and bright man. His social network is very popular. He has done no mistake. What was his fault that he tweeted against the Prime Minister? Our government faces such tweets so many times.
Yes of course caution should be exercised while tweeting that it doesnt jeopardise the countrys security. But he tweeted about the Morbi tragedy as so many people died. We feel very sorry for him and this vindictive attitude is not tolerable to me, she said.
Saket Gokhale, the Trinamools national spokesperson, was detained late last night in Jaipur for a tweet allegedly spreading fake news on PM Modi.
The arrest followed BJP leader Amit Kotharis police complaint in Ahmedabad.
Rajya Sabha MP Derek OBrien on Tuesday alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has taken political vendetta to another level.
He said Saket was picked up by the police after he reached Jaipur city in Rajasthan.
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 OBrien | ????? ????????? (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
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, Derek tweeted.
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 OBrien | ????? ????????? (@derekobrienmp) December 6, 2022
The cooked-up case is filed with the Ahmedabad cyber cell about Sakets tweet on the Morbi bridge collapse. All this cannot silence @AITCofficialand the Opposition. BJP taking political vendetta to another level, he said.
Gokhale will face charges like forgery, which could lead to five years in jail.
The Dec 1 tweet cited a Right to Information (RTI) reply that revealed the PMs visit to Morbi cost the Gujarat government ? 30 crore, far more than the compensation given to victims (a total of ? 5 crore). This was flagged as fake by the governments fact-check unit the same day.
Quoting an RTI, It is being claimed in a tweet that PMs visit to Morbi cost ?30 cr.#PIBFactCheck
?? This claim is #Fake.
?? No such RTI response has been given. pic.twitter.com/CEVgvWgGTv
PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 1, 2022
Over 130 people were killed in Gujarats Morbi town when a renovated colonial-era bridge collapsed in October.
PM Modi visited the town in his home state on Nov 1, and met the injured, besides going to the tragedy site.
