Gujarat: Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani, 7 others booked for rioting, obstructing police during Gandhinagar civic elections

An FIR has been registered against Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani and seven others for allegedly obstructing a police inspector, creating a commotion inside Pethapur police station and attempting to incite tensions between communities during the campaign for the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections in Gujarat, news agency PTI said on 11 October.

The incident allegedly took place on October 8 after Yunus Parmar, the Congress candidate from Ward No. 4, was called to the police station for questioning following a complaint that he and his associates had threatened a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaigner.

The Police Station Officer (PSO) of Pethapur police station confirmed that an FIR had been registered against Mevani and the others on Sunday night and added no one had been arrested.

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A complaint alleged that Mevani and seven others obstructed a police inspector, created a commotion at Pethapur police station and attempted to provoke tensions between communities. The FIR was registered during the campaign for the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections.

Police Inspector AM Desai alleged that Mevani and the others entered the station’s writer’s room while Yunus Parmar was being questioned. They allegedly obstructed Desai’s work, used abusive language and prevented Parmar’s statement from being recorded.

A BJP campaigner, Bhavesh Bhavsar, allegedly complained that Parmar and his associates threatened him in Pethapur on October 8. They were accused of warning him not to campaign or enter the area.

The FIR cites unlawful assembly, rioting, obstruction of a public servant, criminal intimidation and intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. It also cites Section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.

No. The Pethapur police station officer said an FIR had been registered against Mevani and the others, but no one had been arrested.

According to the complaint filed by Police Inspector AM Desai, who is posted at Pethapur police station, BJP candidate's campaigner Bhavesh Bhavsar was allegedly threatened by Parmar and his associates at Sanjari Park in Pethapur around 10 pm on October 8.

They allegedly warned Bhavsar against campaigning or entering the area and threatened him with dire consequences.

A written complaint was subsequently submitted to Pethapur police station against Parmar and unidentified associates, the FIR states.

Desai said that when he was questioning Parmar in connection with the complaint as part of his official duty, Mevani and the other accused allegedly formed an unlawful assembly and entered the writer's room of the police station.

They allegedly obstructed Desai from discharging his lawful duties, used abusive language, created a commotion and forcibly prevented the recording of Parmar's statement, the complaint states.

The accused allegedly sat outside the police station with other supporters and raised slogans referring to the Thakor community.

Mevani booked for unlawful assembly, rioting and more

The complaint alleged that the actions were intended to provoke people against the police and defame the force, thereby disturbing public peace and creating tensions between communities.

The FIR further alleges that the accused recorded the incident on a mobile phone and circulated the footage on social media with the intention of generating or promoting enmity between different communities.

It also alleges that their actions violated a notification issued by the Additional District Magistrate, Gandhinagar.

The case was registered on Sunday, the day voting was held for the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections. Mevani and seven others were booked for unlawful assembly, rioting, obstruction of a public servant, criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace under sections 189(2), 191(2), 221, 351(2), 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.

GMC election on 11 wards concluded was held on Sunday.

(With agency inputs)

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