Days after the Kutch (East) Police arrested 12 persons for allegedly impersonating officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and raiding a jewellery firm in Gandhidham city on December 5, a war of words erupted between Minister of State (MoS), Home, Harsh Sanghavi and two leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat, Gopal Italia and Isudan Gadhvi, after the minister claimed in a social media post that one of the accused was an AAP member. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Sanghavi claimed that Abdul Sattar Manjethi was “the captain of the fake ED team and the Official General Secretary of AAP.” Italia and Gadhvi claimed there was no truth to the allegation and accused the minister of “misleading the people of Gujarat”. Sanghavi's post, written in Hindi, stated: “One more feat of Arvind Kejriwal's AAP has come to light! In Gujarat, a party leader created a fake ED team and looted people by becoming its captain! Fake ED team commander caught in Kutch turns out to be Gujarat AAP leader!” Quoting Sanghavi's post, Italia stated: “Instead of hiding behind TV and playing the game of tweeting like a troll army, let the Home Minister come and discuss it face-to-face. Sanghavi should inform the time and place of the public debate to expose the AAP on the fake ED issue of Kutch.” AAP's Gujarat chief Gadhvi, in a quoted post, said, “To mislead the people of Gujarat, Harshbhai said that the man from the fake ED is from the AAP. There is no truth in this. That person is not even a party office bearer or worker at present. As the Home Minister, you should not mislead the people by making false tweets like this.” He further said, “In your rule, there is nothing in Gujarat today that is not fake. Now even the ED has become fake and you could not do anything except big talk.” In a video accompanying the post, Gadhvi said, “He (Manjethi) is currently neither a worker of AAP, nor an office bearer. If he was an office bearer, he would have been suspended by now. But whoever is the accused, if you have the courage, give him the death sentence.” Referring to the BZ Finance chit fund scam accused Bhupendrasinh Zala, Gadhvi said, “You had given an award to that scamster. Will you be able to discuss this matter in public?” On December 4, the then ADGP of CID, Crime, Rajkumar Pandian said during a media interaction that “cricketers from several states had invested in the scheme along with a large number of teachers”. Alleging political links, spokesperson of the Gujarat Congress Manish Doshi had demanded a “thorough investigation of the people connected with Zala”. AAP Gujarat spokesperson Dr Karan Barot, meanwhile, shared a handwritten letter with the masthead of “Aam Aadmi Party Kutch West District”, purportedly written by one A Sattar Manjethi, dated October 1, 2023, resigning from the post of General Secretary of the Kutch West Zone of AAP on health grounds. When asked whether Manjethi continued to be a member of AAP, Dr Barot said he was suspended from the party. The Indian Express attempted to reach out to MoS Sanghavi but he remained unavailable for comment. On December 5, the Kutch (East) Police said they arrested 12 of 13 members of a gang that had impersonated officials of the ED, raided a jewellery firm and residences of its owners, and allegedly looted gold, silver and cash to the tune of over Rs 25 lakh in the name of “seizure”. Gandhidham A Division of Kutch (East) Police registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 305 (theft), 204 (impersonating a public servant), and 61(2)(a) (criminal conspiracy). According to a police statement, Manjethi had been earlier booked for murder by Jamnagar Police and for attempt to murder by Kutch police.
