He has been booked under IPC section 124 A (sedition) and Disaster Management Act section 54 (Punishment for false warning). (File)
An editor of a Gujarati news portal was booked for sedition and detained on Monday for allegedly publishing a report suggesting a leadership change in Gujarat due to criticism over rising coronavirus cases in the state.
According to police, Dhaval Patel, editor and owner of Face of Nation, allegedly wrote a news story on May 7, titled ‘Mansukh Mandaviya called by high command, chances of leadership change in Gujarat’. Mandaviya is a Union minister and a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat.
The news story mentions that COVID-19 cases have been increasing in Gujarat, the “failure” of the Gujarat CM has been noted by New Delhi, and that Mandaviya was called by the BJP high command, due to which there were speculation of a leadership change in the state.
Patel was detained by a team of Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch from his residence in Ahmedabad. He has been booked under IPC section 124 A (sedition) and Disaster Management Act section 54 (Punishment for false warning).
“An attempt to create unrest in the state and society was made through a message on the web portal… A preliminary investigation was conducted by Crime Branch and after that the editor was booked and detained,” said B V Gohil, Assistant Commissioner of Police, DCB Ahmedabad.