Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale gets bail in ‘fake news’ case
The police had alleged that Gokhale had tweeted fake news about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi to get political mileage.
An Ahmedabad court on Thursday granted bail to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale, three days after he was arrested for posting a tweet about the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, party leader Derek O’Brien said.
Gokhale was held on December 5 in Rajasthan’s Jaipur by the Gujarat Police. He was later formally arrested after being brought to Ahmedabad. He was subsequently sent to police custody till December 8.
On Wednesday, the Gujarat Police had said that Gokhale had tweeted fake news about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi to get political mileage.
The prime minister had visited Morbi on November 1, a day after the bridge on the Machchu river collapsed, leaving 141 people dead.
On December 1, Gokhale had shared a news clipping about a purported Right to Information application which claimed that Modi’s visit to Morbi after the tragedy cost Rs 30 crore. However, on the same day, the Press Information Bureau tweeted a fact check saying that the information was fake.
The news clipping appeared to be from the local newspaper Gujarat Samachar. The newspaper later denied having published the news.
On December 6, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that Gokhale had made no mistake and that he had been arrested due to the “vindictive attitude” of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She described Gokhale as a “very bright man” and said that he is very popular on social media.