New Delhi: The Delhi police has asked Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy to join its probe on May 1 over the doctored video of Union home minister Amit Shah being circulated on the social media.
According to sources, the police has also issued notices to the Telangana Congress and summoned five members of the state unit, including its chief, who posted the video on X.
In a related development, a 31-year-old man identified as Reetom Singh was arrested on Monday for allegedly sharing the fake video. Reetom Singh is associated with the Assam Congress and is the party’s “war room coordinator”, his X profile says.
The sources said Mr Reddy has been asked to appear with his mobile phone allegedly used for posting the fake video on X.
A team from the Delhi police reached Telangana to serve the notice to individuals who tweeted this fake video. “Since INC Telangana posted it on X (formerly Twitter), notice will be served to them also,” said the sources.
Earlier, Amit Malviya, head of the BJP’s IT department, had alleged that the Telangana Congress unit was circulating a doctored video of Mr Shah that was entirely fabricated and capable of inciting widespread violence.
“The matter is under investigation. We are trying to trace the origin of the video and people who posted it will be questioned and notice will be served to them to participate in the probe,” said the sources.
The Delhi police special cell had Sunday registered an FIR after the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Union home ministry, filed a complaint about the doctored video of Mr Shah where his statements indicating a commitment to abolish quotas for Muslims on religious ground in Telangana were changed to make it seem that he was advocating the scrapping of all reservations. The sources in the special cell said that now arrests are likely to follow across the country.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the special cell has also 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.
A case has been registered under Sections 153, 153A, 465, 469, and 171G of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66C of the Information Technology Act. According to the FIR, a copy of which is in possession of this newspaper, the MHA, in its complaint, said it has been found that “some doctored videos are being circulated by users of Facebook and Twitter”.
“The video seems to be doctored, spreading misleading information with the intention of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquility and public order issues. It is requested to kindly take necessary legal action as per the provisions of the law,” the ministry said, as per the FIR.
It also stated that a report was attached with the complaint containing details of links and handles from which the doctored videos of the home minister were being shared.
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”.
