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Assam Slowly Becoming a Police State, Says Jignesh Mevani After Release

Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani shed light on all the events between his arrest and the time he got bail.

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Edited By :Tejas Harad

In an interview with The Quint, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani shed light on all the events between his arrest and the time he got bail. Mevani hinted that even before the First Information Report (FIR) against him, the Assam Police had bought the ticket for Ahmedabad.

"How did the Assam Police reach Ahmedabad the day the FIR was lodged in Assam? That means it was all premeditated. At whose behest was I arrested?" he asked.

Jignesh Mevani said, "On 19 April, I was near my Assembly constituency in Palampur Circuit House, next to Budgam. At around 11:30 or quarter past twelve, the Assam Police came and sat in my room and said that you have to be arrested. I asked them about the case, to which Assam Police said that it's regarding a tweet."

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'No FIR Copy, Was Not Even Allowed To Talk to Lawyer'

Mevani said that he asked for a copy of the FIR from the Assam Police and told them that he wanted to talk to his family and lawyer. He asked the Assam Police "under which sections the case has been registered so that I can also think about it and talk to my lawyer, but the Assam Police neither gave the copy of the FIR nor allowed me to talk to the lawyer and my family."

Mevani said that after being arrested the second time, they landed in Guwahati, where he was taken with a convoy of five vehicles, "as if I was a gangster."

"During this time, a woman police officer was sitting with us. However, I wanted to ask why I have women police officers with me," he said.

Mevani told that after getting the first bail, I came to know that I was being arrested again for misbehaving with a female officer. "Then I understood why a female police officer was made to sit with me," he said.

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Edited By :Tejas Harad
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