Waiter at Banaskantha hotel arrested for uploading objectionable post against Rupala

Meanwhile, Vivek Bhatt, additional personal secretary (PS) to Rupala, had submitted an application to Rajkot city police via an email on May 13.

Based on Panchani’s complaint, police booked the accused under Information Technology Act’s  Section 66-C (fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person). “Investigation revealed that the post on Instagram was first uploaded by one Takhuji Rathod (30), a waiter at Hotel Atithi in Sotambla village in Deesa taluka of Banaskantha. Therefore, he was brought to Rajkot and arrested on May 26,” an officer of cyber police station told The Indian Express on Tuesday.

Hotel Atithi is a roadside hotel with a restaurant on National Highway 27 in Sotambla village of Banaskantha and the highway connects Gujarat with Rajasthan.

The officer said that the waiter pleaded ignorance about the implication of his post. “During interrogation, he said that someone forwarded him the digital poster about the Union Minister and that after finding the poster interesting, he shared it on his Instagram account. He claims that he didn’t know the implication of sharing false details about an individual.”

Panchani’s complaint cites five Instagram accounts on which the post about Rupala, who is BJP’s candidate for Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, was shared. “It was done a few weeks ago,” added the officer.

The Kshatriya community has been up in arms against the veteran BJP leader for his alleged derogatory remarks about that community in Rajkot in March.