New Delhi/ Hyderabad: Delhi Police has summoned Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy May 1 for questioning in a case of a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah circulated on social media and police in some BJP-ruled states also swung into action making the first arrest in Assam.
Notices have been issued to five members of the Telangana Congress, including its chief Reddy, who posted the video on X, sources said, adding that a team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell handed over a notice to the Chief Minister’s Office Monday.
They have been asked to appear with their mobile phones, laptops, tablets or any other electronic device through which they have created, uploaded and tweeted the video on their X accounts, the sources said.
Addressing a Congress rally at Sedam in Karnataka,Reddy said “no one here is afraid” of such notices and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now using Delhi Police to win elections.
BJP also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission Monday against the Congress, alleging that it circulated the “deep fake and morphed” video of Shah to derail the poll process and demanded strict action against the party.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that one person has been arrested in connection with the fake video.
“Assam police have arrested an individual named Sri Reetom Singh in connection with the fake video involving Honorable Home Minister Sri @AmitShah,” Sarma said in a post on X.
Reetom Singh, 31, is associated with the Assam Congress and functions as the party’s ‘War Room Coordinator’, according to his X profile.
A Congress spokesperson said the party is not aware of any fake video and “it must have been shared in his personal capacity”.
Assam Police Chief Public Relations Officer Pranabjyoti Goswami said in a statement that a case was registered at Panbazar police station based on a complaint regarding the circulation of a “distorted and motivated” post on X about Shah.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had Sunday registered an FIR after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs, filed a complaint about the doctored video of Shah where his statements indicating a commitment to abolish quota for Muslims on religious ground in Telangana were changed to make it seem that he was advocating scrapping of all reservations.
The Delhi Police filed the FIR under sections 153 (causing provocation with intention to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 465 (forgery), 469 (forgery to harm the reputation of any party), and 171G (publishing false statement with intent to affect the result of an election) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Information Technology Act, the police said.
The sources in the Special Cell said that now arrests are likely to follow across the country.
In Jaipur, an FIR was lodged on the complaint of the social media department of the BJP in connection with the doctored video.
Cyber Crime SHO Shravan Kumar said that a case has been registered under sections 153A, 465, 171C (undue influence at elections) of the IPC and under the IT Act, adding that an investigation is on.
The sources in the Delhi Police Monday said that Ramachandran Reddy, an advocate at the Congress Party Office in Telangana, has received the notice on behalf of Naveen Pettem (social media convener), Asma Tasleem (Congress spokesperson) and Shivan Kumar Ambala (state secretary).
At the rally in Karnataka, Reddy said, “Some post was made on social media, they reached Telangana Gandhi Bhavan (state Congress headquarters) with the notice that we will arrest Telangana Congress president and Telangana Chief Minister.
“That means, Narendra Modi ji is now using Delhi Police to win elections. ED, Income Tax and CBI are over,” he said.
“No one is afraid here. There are people who give an answer,” he said.
A BJP delegation comprising Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the party’s national media department in-charge Anil Baluni complained to the EC in Delhi.
“The Congress wants to derail the entire election process through a deep fake and morphed video (of Amit Shah). We raised a complaint before the Election Commission today against it. The Congress has tried to create confusion among people by posting a deep fake video from its official handle,” Vaishnaw told reporters after meeting the poll panel officials.
“We requested the Election Commission to take strict action,” he added.
Earlier, Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP’s IT department, had alleged that the Telangana Congress unit was circulating a doctored video of Shah that was entirely fabricated and capable of inciting widespread violence.
A police complaint was also filed by the BJP.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell has now approached social media platforms to identify the source of the video and those who have spread it.
“We have formed many teams to investigate the matter properly and arrest the main culprits. We have written to X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media platforms regarding the video. We are investigating both the source of the video and those responsible for its widespread circulation,” said another source.
According to the complaint filed by Sinku Sharan Singh of I4C, some doctored videos are being circulated on social media with “the intent of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquillity and public order”.
“The video seems to be doctored, spreading misleading information with the intention of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquillity and public order issues. It is requested to kindly take necessary legal action as per the provisions of law.”
PTI