Jan 03, 2025 10:54 PM IST
A woman in Amreli, Gujarat was arrested and later given bail, in connection with allegedly ‘defaming’ a BJP MLA
A woman was granted bail by a local court in Gujarat’s Amreli on Friday in connection with her alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defame Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kaushik Vekariya on social media, reported news agency PTI.
A political row erupted after purported video allegedly showing the woman being paraded with other accused by the police in Amreli.
Amreli sessions court judge Rizwana Bukhari granted the woman regular bail after the prosecution did not object to her plea. Key accused BJP worker Manish Vaghasiya, BJP sarpanch Ashok Mangroliya and Jeetu Khatra are still behind bars.
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The 25-year-old woman was arrested, along with four others, in Amreli on December 29. The woman used to work as a computer operator in the office of BJP worker Manish Vaghasiya.
According to the police, former taluka panchayat president Vaghasiya had used a fake letterhead, signature and stamp of Amreli taluka panchayat president Kishor Kanpariya, to spread messages damaging the reputation of MLA Vekariya.
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Police stated that Vaghasiya attacked Vekariya and Kanpariya because he believed that both of them would hinder his ability to become BJP’s Amreli taluka president.
The woman was also implicated as she had allegedly typed and printed the content on the fake letterhead. Mangroliya and Khatra were also arrested as they had shared the file on WhatsApp, despite being aware that it was false information, the police told PTI.
Opposition’s reaction
After a video surfaced of the woman and three others accused being paraded by the Amreli police, opposition parties Congress and AAP criticised the BJP for damaging the “honour” of the young woman.
“She is just a typist who comes from a very humble background and works for a salary of ₹10,000. She had just followed the orders of her boss and typed that letter. This was her only crime. But police treated her like a hardened criminal and paraded her on the road,” Congress working president Lalit Kagathra said.
He added that the BJP government and Amreli police had jeopardised her future job and marriage prospects.
AAP leader Gopal Italia also took a dig at the BJP government saying that they protected scamsters but punished a woman who was just doing her job.
Senior BJP leader chairman of Amreli district cooperative bank Dileep Sanghani, met the woman in jail and the bank later offered her a job as well.
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