After I-T searches, ED arrests owner of Gujarat’s leading newspaper

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Bahubali Shantilal Shah, one of the owners of the Gujarati newspaper Gujarat Samachar, after a raid in Ahmedabad, sources said.

Bahubali Shah is one of the directors of Lok Prakashan Limited, which publishes Gujarat Samachar.

Newslaundry had earlier reported on income tax searches on at least 24 premises linked to Gujarat Samachar and the family that owns it in Ahmedabad. ED teams had subsequently reached some of these spots, sources said.

The reason behind the searches and the arrest remains unclear. The ED and income tax authorities are yet to issue any official statement.

Bahubali Shah’s brother and Gujarat Samachar editor-in-chief Shreyans Shantilal Shah told the Deccan Herald that his brother has been arrested “in an old case. We don’t have much details as yet about the charges…we are being targeted.”

Gujarat MLA and the Congress state working president Jignesh Mevani slammed the ED, saying “Gujarat Samachar and its owners are being targeted because, for the last 25 years, the newspaper has been publishing reports critical of the Central Government”.

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