British police said Thursday they had arrested a 23-year-old man over allegations that an officer fabricated evidence that led to the resignation of senior cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell.
The man, who is not a police officer, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of “intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence on or around 14 December”, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
He was released on bail after being questioned by detectives.
Mitchell was forced to stand down as chief whip in October after police claimed he called them “f***ing plebs” when an officer stopped him from cycling out of the main gates of Downing Street a month earlier.
The politician — who as chief whip was responsible for enforcing discipline in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party — has admitted swearing but has always denied he used the word “plebs”.
The arrest is part of a large-scale police investigation into claims that a serving police officer lied about witnessing the verbal exchange which led to a campaign which ended in Mitchell’s resignation.
The officer was arrested at the weekend on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. He has now admitted he did not see Mitchell’s exchange with the duty officer.
Supporters of Mitchell from the Conservative Party and the main opposition Labour Party have expressed their belief that he could have been “set up”.
Man arrested over minister's 'pleb' resignation
