The FIR against Das was filed last month after he shared a photo showing IAS officer Pooja Singhal whispering something to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat police on Tuesday detained filmmaker Avinash Das from Mumbai in a case related to sharing a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal on Twitter, an official said.
According to the official, he has been bought to Ahmedabad for further action.
Crime branch’s Assistant Commissioner of Police said “We detained Das from Mumbai on Tuesday. He is being brought to Ahmedabad by our team for further legal process.”
The Ahmedabad crime branch had lodged a First Information Report against the filmmaker under section 469 (forgery) of the IPC as well as provisions of the Preventions of Insults to National Honour Act and the Information Technology Act, as he also had posted an image of women wearing the national flag on his social media handle.
The FIR against the Mumbai-based filmmaker was filed last month after he shared a photo showing IAS officer Pooja Singhal whispering something to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Singhal has been arrested by the ED in connection to a money laundering case.
According to the FIR, Mr. Das in the caption said the picture was taken a few days ago while it was actually taken in 2017.
The crime branch claims the act was done with a motive to tarnish Mr. Shah’s image.
A sessions court last month rejected Mr. Das’s plea for anticipatory bail, observing that he had deliberately claimed the photo of Union Minister Amit Shah with IAS officer Poja Singhal was taken a few days before the latter’s arrest, with the intention to “tarnish the image of the Home Minister.”
The photo of a woman wrapped in the national flag showed Mr. Das’s “mental perverseness”, the court’s order read.
Later the Gujarat HC also rejected his anticipatory bail application while observing that Das had violated provisions of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act by circulating a painting showing a person wearing a dress made of the national flag.
The Bombay HC had also rejected the filmmaker’s transit anticipatory bail application.
Avinash Das directed the Swara Bhaskar starer Anarkali of Aarah (2017), as well as “Raat Baaki Hai” which released in 2021.
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