Ahmedabad Apr 21 PTI Assam police have arrested Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani from Palanpur town in Gujarats Banaskantha district and took him to the north-eastern state by air in the early hours of Thursday officials said While the police did not specify the reason behind his arrest Mevanis close aide cited a document shared by the Assam police and claimed that the legislator was held over his tweet on Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse Angered over Mevanis arrest Gujarat Congress leaders staged a demonstration near Sarangpur circle in the city and demanded his release Assam police took custody of Mevani from Palanpur circuit house late on Wednesday night and took him with them to Assam after informing the local police an official of Banaskantha police station said Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Akshayraj Makwana confirmed that Assam police arrested Mevani and took him to their state after informing Palanpur police Mevani had won as an independent MLA from Vadgam SC seat of Banaskantha in 2017 through Congress support Though he is ideologically with the Congress at present he has not joined the opposition party officially He has earlier said that he would fight the next elections as a Congress candidate He was arrested after an FIR under section 153A of the IPC which deals with offences related to promoting enmity between communities was registered at Kokrajhar police station in Assam said Mevanis aide Suresh Jat As per a document shared by the officials of the Assam police an FIR has been lodged over a tweet by Mevani few days back However the tweet has been withheld by Twitter It was about Nathuram Godse Mevani was first brought to Ahmedabad by road and then taken to Assam by air early in the morning Jat added Apart from section 153A of the IPC Mevani has been booked under section 295A malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings 504 provocation with an intention to break public peace and under relevant sections of the IT Act In a statement Mevanis office said he was arrested by Assam police from Palanpur circuit House at 1130 pm on Wednesday and then taken to Assam by air from Ahmedabad airport in the early hours of Thursday After learning about Mevanis arrest Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor and other Congress leaders rushed to Ahmedabad airport around 4 am to express solidarity with Mevani To protest Mevanis arrest Congress leaders and workers including Thakor Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathva and former Gujarat Congress chief Siddharth Patel staged a protest at Sarangpur circle and raised anti-BJP slogans Following their attempt to block the busy road local police briefly detained nearly 20 Congress workers and leaders including Thakor said an official of the city police control room PTI PJT PD KRK NP NP

Pune Jan 22 PTI Actor Nana Patekar on Saturday defended NCP MP Amol Kolhe who is facing flak for playing Nathuram Godse in an upcoming film saying an artiste has the right to choose a roleHe himself had essayed the role of Mahatma Gandhis assassin in a TV series many years ago he reminiscedKolhe did that role when he was in another party and NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said this earlier Not many people know this but I had played Nathuram Godse around 30 years ago in British TV series Lord Mountbatten The Last Viceroy Patekar told reporters hereDoes it mean that I support the characters thoughts I am an artiste and got the role Its an artistes choice When one supports that characters ideology then questions can be asked but for an artiste it is his bread and butter he addedIn the film Why I Killed Gandhi directed by Ashok Tyagi Kolhe an actor-politician will be seen as Gandhis assassinThe film was shot in 2017 Kolhe who started his political innings with the Shiv Sena joined the NCP in 2019 PTI COR KRK KRK KRK