An editor of a Gujarati news portal has been booked on the charge of sedition for uploading a news item suggesting that BJP high-command may remove Chief Minister Vijay Rupani from his post and replace him with Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, police said on Monday.
An FIR was registered by the Ahmedabad crime branch on Friday against Dhaval Patel, the editor of news portal Face Of Nation, under section 124-a (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Disaster Management Act, a senior officer said.
"As a precautionary measure in view of the coronavirus pandemic, Patel has been detained, not arrested, and sent to SVP Hospital for COVID-19 test," said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) BV Gohil.
As per the FIR, Patel published a story on his news portal on May 7 suggesting a change of guard in the state. The piece even claimed that Mandaviya has been called by the BJP high-command to discuss the same.
The article further claimed that the high command was not happy with Rupani's handling of coronavirus crisis in the state.
Earlier, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has registered a case of sedition against Chairman of Delhi Minority Commission Zafarul Islam Khan for a controversial social media post, an officer said on Saturday.
The FIR was registered against Khan on April 30 under section 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth) after police received a complaint by a resident of Vasant Kunj.
In the FIR, the complainant alleged that Khan's post was "provocative", "deliberate" and seditious and intended to cause disharmony and create a rift in the society, police said, adding that the case is being investigated by the cyber cell.
