A court in western Assam’s Barpeta on Thursday reserved order on a fresh bail petition moved by independent MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani who was arrested on April 25 for allegedly assaulting a policewoman.
The court of the chief judicial magistrate in Barpeta had on April 26 sent Mr. Mevani to five-day police custody.
“We had moved a fresh bail application at the Barpeta district and sessions court today [on Thursday]. The order on our plea has been reserved for Friday,” counsel for Mr. Mevani and senior advocate Angshuman Bora told The Hindu.
Mr. Mevani, who is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, was arrested by the Kokrajhar district police from Gujarat’s Palanpur on April 20 midnight on an FIR lodged by an Assam-based BJP leader for an alleged offensive tweet against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A local court in Kokrajhar granted him bail on April 25, but the Barpeta police re-arrested him in another case registered at the Barpeta police station on April 21 for allegedly abusing and pawing a woman police officer.
Cong. leaders detained
On Thursday, the Barpeta police detained Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Kumar Borah and other Congress leaders. They were staging a silent protest demanding Mr. Mevani’s release.
“The Assam police have become a puppet in the hands of the BJP and the RSS. The State police must realise their duties and protect democracy. Instead, they are slapping fabricated cases on Mr. Mevani and detaining us,” Mr. Borah said.
