The Enforcement Directorate (ED) logo.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Ahmedabad: TThe Enforcement Directorate has arrested one of the owners of leading Gujarati daily newspaper, Gujarat Samachar, on charges of financial fraud on Thursday late in the night. The details of charges is yet not fully known but the family said they are being "targeted" for being critical of the government.
Bahubali Shah, one of the owners of the daily, was arrested by the ED officials on Friday. "Yes, the information is correct. Bahubalibhai has been arrested in an old case. We don't have much details as yet about the charges...we are being targeted," Shreyansh Shah, managing editor of the newspaper, told DH. Efforts to get a comment from the ED also didn't elicit any response.
One of the largest circulated vernacular newspapers, Gujarat Samachar, was established in 1932. It is jointly run by Bahubali Shah and his brother Shreyansh Shah.
"Bahubali Shah was arrested by the ED hours after an operation by the Income Tax department. The real reason behind his arrest is the paper's critical writing against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government," said Shaktisinh Gohil, Gujarat Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP.
Gohil told DH that he spoke to the Shah family who confirmed that Bahubali Shah has been arrested. Shah is reported to have developed chest pain following which he was taken to a for medical examination from where he was shifted to another hospital in the night.
"Punishment to stand up for Truth has been the motto of the BJP government. Leading Gujarati newspaper Gujarat Samachar has always stood up against power, whosoever it be. However, showing mirror to BJP Government and PM Modi in the recent India - Pakistan fallout has ensured that Modi let out his favourite tool kit, his hounds. Income Tax( IT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) has pounced upon Gujarat Samachar and its television channel GSTv besides other business entities," Gohil said in his post on X.
The post also mentioned, "Bahubalibhai is a senior citizen with health issues. I strongly condemn this excess by the Modi govt. Media doing its' job is being ruthlessly targeted. BJP should know that not every media is Godi and ready to sell their soul."
The family run newspaper was raided by income tax officials two days ago. Later, ED also raided the premises of the newspaper and locations linked to it. Recently, the X account of the newspaper was also blocked by the government following the Pahalgam terror attack. The account remains suspended.
Aam Aadmi Party's Gujarat president Isudan Gadhvi, who runs a debate programme on Gujarat Samachar's news channel, also criticised the raids by I-T and ED, alleging that it was an attempt to "intimidate" the newspaper from pursuing fearless journalism.
"During the emergency, the office of Gujarat Samachar was burnt down but even then the newspaper didn't stop reporting the truth," Gadhvi wrote on X.