Gujarat Samachar owner Bahubali Shah arrested by ED, gets interim bail

A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Friday granted 15-day interim bail to Bahubali Shah, one of the owners of leading Gujarati newspaper 'Gujarat Samachar', on health grounds.

The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Shah a day before following raids at the newspaper's premises.

Principal District and Sessions Judge K M Sojitra ordered Shah's release on bail till May 31 on furnishing surety and personal bond of Rs 10,000.

The investigating official must be apprised of his health status every alternate day and Shah must cooperate with the agency, the court said.

Shah had approached the court seeking bail on the grounds of "serious medical/health condition".

Bahubali Shah is one of the directors of Lok Prakashan Limited, which owns the Gujarat Samachar. His elder brother, Shreyansh Shah, is the managing editor of the daily.

Tushar Dave, head of digital services at GSTV, a Gujarati news channel run by Shreyansh Shah, said the ED detained Bahubali Shah in the early hours of Friday.

In a Facebook post, Dave said Shah was first taken to VS Hospital by the ED and then admitted to Zydus Hospital in the city after his health condition deteriorated.

The federal anti-money laundering agency has not issued any statement about the reasons behind its action.

The Income Tax department searched the GSTV premises in Ahmedabad for nearly 36 hours. The ED raided the premises on Thursday evening, soon after I-T officials left, Dave said in another Facebook post.

Gujarat MLA and 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.