"BJP Hates Patidars": AAP Gujarat Chief On 3-Hour Detention

Gopal Italia was briefly detained by the police from the NCW building after being summoned for questioning about a four-year-old video.

Gopal Italia, the Aam Aadmi Party's Gujarat chief who was detained on Thursday for around three hours by the police over allegations that he had abused Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a 2018 video, has hit back, saying the move was politically motivated.

"I don't know why the police detained me. What was my crime? I came for questioning as a law-abiding person. Instead of hearing me out, the NCW chairperson called the police and sent me to the police station," he told NDTV, referring to being summoned by the National Commission for Women.

"This shows the entire BJP is plotting against the Patel community. They had many of us shot. They are jealous of Patidars. They want to harass me at any cost. The cops admitted they had orders from above to detain me," Mr Italia said.

"There are CCTV cameras at the office of the National Commission for Women. Show us proof how the of her life was in danger while she was sitting on the first floor and people were outside the door downstairs. Like her political boss, Rekha Sharma is also lying," he said, referring to accusations by Ms Sharma that AAP activists had tried to mob her office.