Ex-Guj minister held as crowd gathers at his family event

Former Gujarat minister Kantibhai Gamit and 17 others, including his son, were arrested in Tapi district of the state on Wednesday after a video showing over 2,000 people attending his grand-daughter's engagement ceremony went viral on social media, police said.

Former Gujarat minister Kantibhai Gamit and 17 others, including his son, were arrested in Tapi district of the state on Wednesday after a video showing over 2,000 people attending his grand-daughter's engagement ceremony went viral on social media, police said. Those arrested include a police inspector, who was suspended before the arrest for alleged dereliction of duty in this connection, they said.

The engagement ceremony took place on November 30 at Dosawada village of Tapi district's Songadh taluka and an FIR in this connection was registered on December 1, said Inspector General of Surat-Tapi range, S Pandia Rajkumar. "Gamit, a former BJP MLA, his son Jitendra Gamit and 16 others were arrested for organising a mega event and thereby putting the lives of others at risk amid the pandemic," Rajkumar told reporters in Surat.

"In the video, over 2,000 people can be seen attending the event without maintaining social distancing or wearing masks. Today, Tapi police arrested Gamit, his son and 16 others," he added. All of them were booked under IPC sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and under various sections of Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act, a release by the Tapi district police said.

After a detailed probe, Tapi police suspended Songadh police inspector C K Chaudhari on Tuesday for dereliction of duty, it said. Since he was also shown as an accused, he was also arrested. The arrest was made on Wednesday, the release added.

The other accused include a sitting corporator, a BJP worker, a cook, a music band owner and a videographer. In the video, a large number of people can be seen enjoying garba in an illuminated open ground at night.

After the video went viral, Kantibhai Gamir had on Tuesday apologised over the event. "I did not invite anyone. However, we knew that people would come and that is why the entire ground was illuminated.

We also kept food prepared for around 1,500 people in anticipation. This is a tribal area and it's not easy to convince people about the rules. I apologise for organising this function," the former minister had told reporters..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)