Goa Police arrests man for spreading fake news about Manohar Parrikar’s health

This comes just two days after a Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that the condition of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was improving.

The crime branch of Goa Police has arrested a man for allegedly spreading fake news about the health condition of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is currently undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment in the US.

This comes just two days after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the condition of the Goa Chief Minister was improving, but he would travel to his home state only after doctors allow him to. Last week, Goa BJP general secretary Sadanand Tanavade had said that Parrikar is likely to return next month.

"The CM is responding well to treatment and is on the path of recovery. Parrikar would head back to Goa after doctors treating him in the US allow him to," BJP leader and Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral told a press conference on Tuesday.

Cabral rubbished statements made recently by some Congress leaders that no medical update was being provided by the BJP-led Goa government on the condition of the former defence minister.

"The CMO has been issuing statements time and again about his health. I have spoken to him (Parrikar) seven times in the last one-and-half months and every time I called, he had attended the call. I can assure you that he is getting well," said Cabral.

The MLA lost his cool when a reporter suggested that updates about Parrikar's health be ideally given by a medical practitioner and not by any party leader. "...The way you are asking, it seems that you (media) don't want him (Parrikar) to return," he said.

Parrikar, who complained of stomach pain on February 14 this year, was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai the next day. He was discharged on February 22 and presented Budget in the Goa Assembly on the same day upon return.

Later, he was again admitted to Lilavati Hospital on March 5, from where he was taken to the US. A Cabinet advisory committee, consisting of senior ministers, has been authorised to take decisions in his absence.