Gujarat: GMB clerk arrested for `providing official documents' to journalist Langa dies in hospital

Ahmedabad, Sep 30 (PTI) A Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) employee, arrested for allegedly providing government documents to imprisoned journalist Mahesh Langa, died shortly after he was admitted to the civil hospital here on Monday night, police said.

Nishidh Jani, a clerk with the GMB, was already suffering from a lung-related ailment, said Gandhinagar district superintendent of police Ravi Teja Vasamsetty on Tuesday.

He was lodged in the Sabarmati central prison after the completion of his police remand following his arrest two weeks ago, the SP said.

"Jani was taken to the Ahmedabad civil hospital by jail officials after his health suddenly deteriorated on Monday night. He died during treatment. He was suffering from a lung-related ailment for some time," the police official said.

In October 2024, Gandhinagar district police registered a case of theft against senior journalist Mahesh Langa and an unknown GMB employee following the recovery of some documents of the GMB from Langa's possession.

Langa, who worked with a leading newspaper in Gujarat, had been arrested by the Ahmedabad crime branch in an alleged Goods and Services Tax scam in the same month.

During investigation, police allegedly recovered GMB documents from his house. A separate case was subsequently registered by Gandhinagar police on a complaint filed by GMB officials against the journalist as well as the unidentified employee who provided the documents to him.

Jani was identified as that employee and arrested two weeks ago under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections related to theft and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, said SP Vasamsetty. PTI PJT PD KRK