A day after Mumbai police re-arrested popular social media user Sameet Thakkar, a Mumbai Court has now sent him to police custody till November 9. He was granted bail by a Nagpur Court yesterday but moments later he was arrested again by the Mumbai police.
Sameet Thakkar was earlier arrested on October 24 in Nagpur for allegedly making ‘objectionable’ comments on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aaditya Thackeray.
Maharashtra: Sameet Thakkar sent to police custody till 9th November by a court in Mumbai.
— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2020
He was arrested on 24 October for allegedly making objectionable comments against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray & State Minister Aaditya Thackeray on social media. pic.twitter.com/UE1U5OP316
Earlier last week, an unsettling video of Sameet being tied with a rope and his face was covered with a black cloth and being led by police officials had surfaced on the internet. The video was from October 30, when Sameet was being taken to the court which extended his police custody till November 2.
Aaditya Thackeray called Baby Penguin
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s son and MLA Aaditya Thackeray is referred by some as ‘baby penguin’. In 2016, on Aaditya’s insistence, 8 penguins were brought to Mumbai’s Byculla zoo from Seoul, South Korea. The administration spent around 2.5 crores on the project that included the cost of an artificial environment built for the flightless birds.
It was known as a ‘pet project’ of Aaditya Thackeray, as he had led the project to bring penguins to Mumbai. But a few weeks later, one penguin “Dory” died due to bacterial infection, triggering a massive controversy.
The experts said that the bird died due to sudden change in the environment, and the zoo administration did not have the training and knowledge to handle such exotic birds. Several experts had also said that it was a bad idea to bring penguins to hot and humid India. Later, the first baby penguin hatched in India had also died.
Highlights of the case
Multiple FIRs have been registered against Sameet Thakkar in Nagpur and Mumbai for his remarks where he has referred to the Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray as “baby penguin”.
He submitted a plea in Bombay High Court seeking protection from arrest and quashing of FIRs against him. Court directed Thakkar on October 1, 2020 to cooperate with police in investigation and record his statement VP Road police station. Thakkar had escaped from police station when he went there to record his statement on October 5 fearing arrest. He told this before the Bombay High Court after which the Court ordered the police not to take any action against him.
He was ordered to appear in police station on October 16 but he did not comply. His lawyer Abhinav Chandrachud refused to appear for Thakkar and returned his brief. Advocate Raspal Singh Renu informed the court on record that Chandrachud has returned the brief and asked for time to appoint new counsel. The hearing in the matter was scheduled for November 3, 2020.
A court in Mumbai today sent him to police custody till November 9.
