MLA Mevani completes legal formalities in Kokrajhar, to leave for Gujarat

Mevani completes legal formalities in Kokrajhar, to leave for Gujarat

Kokrajhar, Apr 30: Gujarat's Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, on Saturday completed pending bail formalities at the Kokrajhar Court and is slated to return to his home state after travelling to Guwahati, where he will be meeting Congress leaders who supported demands that he be released.

Mevani, an independent MLA from Gujarat, told reporters here after completing the formalities that it was "shameful that false cases were filed" against him in the land of Srimanta Sankardeva, a revered Vaishnavite saint.

The MLA was granted bail by the Kokrajhar court earlier on Monday in a case related to a tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi but was rearrested immediately afterwards and taken to Barpeta based on allegations by a woman police officer that he assaulted and molested her while he was being escorted by a police posse.

After being given bail by the Barpeta district judge on Friday, who pulled up Assam police for registering a "false FIR" in the alleged assault case, Mewani came to Kokrajhar earlier this morning to complete the original bail fromalities.

He also took the permission of the court to leave the town, as one of his bail conditions was to stay within the limits of the court's jurisdiction.

"All the procedures related to the Kokrajhar bail order has been completed and Mevani will go to Guwahati before leaving for Gujarat," his lawyer said.

"It was entirely a conspiracy to harass me and to use a woman official for the purpose (which) reflects their cowardice and is against the culture of the state," Mewani said.

Alleging that the BJP leadership was behind his arrest, he asked, "Why will the Assam police suddenly arrest me, register cases, ask for remand, vehemently oppose the bail application?"

"It is because they have got instructions from their political bosses', the Dalit leader alleged.

"This is a BJP conspiracy and the instructions came from Prime Minister's office to the Assam government," he went on to claim.

He said that after returning to Gujarat he will tell people how he was harassed in false cases. He also thanked the people of Assam, particularly youths, Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, Ahoms, and particularly the Congress party for providing 'rock-solid' support to him.

Jignesh Mewani was picked up by Assam police from Gujarat on April 19 and brought to the northeastern state after he posted a purported tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he had claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "considered Godse as God".

The MLA from Vadgam seat in Banaskantha, who has pledged his support to the Congress, had used the same tweet to also urge Modi to appeal for communal harmony during his visit to Gujarat, the FIR at Kokrajhar Police Station, which was accessed by PTI, said.

After being released on bail in the case on his tweet, the Dalit leader from Gujarat was rearrested after being charged with assaulting a policewoman who was part of the police posse which accompanied him to Korkrajhar, a complaint for which had been registered in Barpeta.

Judge Aparesh Chakraborty of the Barpeta Court however released him on bail and urged the Gauhati High Court to consider directing the Assam police to reform itself to 'prevent registration of false FIR like the present case and (of) police personnel firing and killing or injuring accused (persons) which has become a routine phenomenon in the state'. PTI