Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raju Karpada and the party’s social media team in Gujarat were on Saturday booked in two separate FIRs at Nilambaug police station in Bhavnagar on the basis of complaints filed by the Superintendent and Jailer of Bhavnagar District Jail for defaming the jail administration and misleading the public, as well as forgery and promoting enmity.
In the second major development over the weekend, several of the persons accused in the October 12 violence at Hadadad village in Botad, have been transferred out of Bhavnagar District Jail and moved to either Rajkot Central Jail or Amreli Jail on Sunday.
In the first FIR on November 1, filed on the basis of a complaint by Bhavnagar District Jail Superintendent DD Prajapati, Raju Karpada and the AAP social media team have been booked under BNS sections for promoting enmity between groups, forgery, using forged record as genuine, and concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment. In this complaint, Prajapati said that on October 31, he was made aware of a video published on October 29, where Karpada can be seen urging people to attend the Kisan Mahapanchayat in Surendranagar. The FIR states that on Prajapati questioning Karpada about the video, Karpada allegedly said he had made the video after the Hadadad violence, and had sent it to the party’s social media.
In the second FIR, also filed on November 1, on the basis of a complaint by Bhavnagar District Jail Jailer RT Solanki, unknown persons handling the social media accounts of AAP leaders Raju Karpada and Pravin Ram were booked under BNS sections for defamation, as well as for identity theft under the Information Technology Act.
In this complaint, Solanki said he saw on social media, specifically on the Facebook pages of Raju Karpada and Pravin Ram, that posts were being uploaded even though both persons were in judicial custody since October 20. The FIR alleged that those who were controlling these social media handles made it appear that the two undertrial prisoners were making the posts, thus defaming the jail administration and misleading the public.
Senior police officials in Botad and Bhavnagar told The Indian Express that the first FIR was filed because Karpada’s video urging people to attend the Kisan Mahapanchayat on October 31 made it appear as if it had been published from within the prison premises. They said it had no disclaimer stating that the video had been shot earlier, before he was arrested by the police he had surrendered to the police in the Botad violence case, thus showing the jail authorities in poor light.
The second FIR had been filed because the social media handles of both the AAP leaders were being handled by other persons, and posts were constantly being uploaded from these handles without any disclaimer that the handles were controlled by other persons, thus misleading people into believing that the jailed party leaders were uploading the posts, putting the jail authorities in bad light.
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The Indian Express also spoke to Pranav Thakkar, head of AAP’s Legal Cell in Gujarat, regarding the transfer of the accused persons to other prisons on Sunday. Thakkar said, “A total of 38 people have been transferred to Rajkot jail, including Raju Karpada and Pravin Ram. A further 15 persons have been transferred to Amreli Jail while 15 remain in Bhavnagar Jail. We have sought a reply from the jail authorities for the reason for the transfer but are yet to receive a reply.”
Sources said this development was separate from the FIRs filed in Bhavnagar a day earlier. DD Prajapati could not be reached for comment.
Notably, a total of 68 persons including AAP leaders, party workers and farmers were booked for attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, rioting, assaulting a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, among others. They were also booked for destruction of public property and for being in violation of a notification promulgated by a public servant. The FIR was filed early on October 13, at Paliyad police station on the basis of a complaint by Paliyad police station Inspector PD Vanda on behalf of the State.
The FIR was filed in light of the violence that took place at Hadadad village of Botad on October 12 evening during a Kisan Mahapanchayat (farmers’ meet) organised by AAP that ultimately ended in conflict with the police with four police staff receiving injuries. The police had fired teargas shells and conducted a lathicharge in the village.
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Subsequently, Raju Karpada and Pravin Ram went underground and appeared in public in Ahmedabad on October 16, from where they were arrested in this case.
