Malappuram: Woman held for WhatsApp clip

MALAPPURAM: A 45-year-old woman has been arrested by the Malappuram Crime Branch for spreading a communally sensitive voice clip on WhatsApp in the name of Additional Director General of Police, B. Sandhya. The woman who was identified as Thanka Vishwambharan, a native of Neyyatinkara in Thiruvannathapuram, was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Malappuram on Thursday and has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The fake voice clip in the name of the senior Police officer first emerged and was widely circulated on Whatsapp after a blast at the district collectorate in November 2016.

The Police had denied such a voice message from B. Sandhya and registered a case on November 8.  The Police had earlier slapped IPC charges for promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion against the accused. The case is being investigated by the CB DySP C.K Babu. The 2.49 minute clip contains a woman’s voice introducing herself as ADGP B. Sandhya and warns the people of Malappuram district of an immediate military deployment to take charge of the law and order in the wake of the blast.   It also seeks to spread the message and also categorically puts the blame on a particular community for the blast and warns of raids in houses and religious places throughout the district. The clip has again started spreading on social media in the midst of the ongoing campaign for the by-election in Malappuram Lok Sabha segment.