Filmmaker Avinash Das Detained For Posting Photo Of Amit Shah With Arrested IAS Officer Pooja Singhal

The Gujarat police detained filmmaker Avinash Das on July 19 from Mumbai in a case related to posting a photograph of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal on Twitter, an official revealed.

The official also revealed that Avinash was being brought to Ahmedabad for further action.

"We detained Das from Mumbai on Tuesday. He is being brought to Ahmedabad by our team for the further legal process," D P Chudasama, the city crime branch's Assistant Commissioner of Police, was quoted as saying by NDTV.

What Is The Case?

The Ahmedabad crime branch registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the filmmaker under Section 469 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, as he had posted on his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts another pic of a woman wearing the national flag.

In June, the FIR against the 46-year-old was officially registered after Avinash posted a picture showing Singhal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, whispering something to Amit Shah.

According to the FIR, in a caption to the photo, Das had alleged the photo was clicked a few days before the IAS officer's arrest, while in reality, it was taken in 2017. The crime branch had also claimed this was done to tarnish Shah's public image as well.

Legal Troubles For Avinash Das

The filmmaker was then booked for insulting national honour by posting a photograph of a woman wearing the national flag on his Facebook and Instagram handles. In June, a sessions court rejected Das' plea for anticipatory bail, stating that he had intentionally claimed the photograph of Amit Shah with IAS Singhal was clicked just a few days before the latter's arrest to "tarnish the image of the Home Minister".

In its order, the court had also said that the picture of a woman wrapped in the Indian national flag displayed Das' "mental perverseness".

Later, the Gujarat High Court also denied his anticipatory bail plea while observing that the Mumbai-based filmmaker had infringed provisions of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act by circulating a painting showing an individual wearing a dress made of the tricolour. Furthermore, the Bombay High Court had also denied Das' transit anticipatory bail application.

Also Read: India Reports Second Monkeypox Case In Kerala's Kannur: Here's How You Can Stay Safe