A case in connection with the doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying the BJP would curtail reservation rights of SC, ST and OBCs has been registered against the Maharashtra Youth Congress' social media handle and 16 others by Mumbai police.
Elsewhere, two persons were arrested by Ahmedabad Cyber Crime department officials and one was taken in custody in Guwahati for allegedly sharing a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. They reportedly had links with the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress , officials said on Tuesday, without sharing other details, media agencies have reported.
The Home Minister also clarified his stand on reservations on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, he accused the "Congress of spreading misinformation that the BJP will end reservations after crossing 400 seats."
Calling these claims "baseless and unfounded," Shah said the BJP supported reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs and would always protect their rights.
Playing both the original and doctored videos on the occasion, Shah hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying ever since he took charge of his party Gandhi "has been working to take the level of politics to a new low."
No major party in Indian politics should make attempts to get public support by circulating fake videos. It was a condemnable act, he said.
The Mumbai case was filed by local BJP functionary Pratik Karpe at the Bandra Kurla Complex cyber police station on Monday, an official said.
According to the complainant, Shah's video was doctored, published and shared on the internet by the accused with a malafide intent to defame the Union minister, PTI and other news agencies reported.
The footage, it was said in the complaint, "deceitfully" portrays Shah announcing the curtailment of the reservation rights granted to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes.
However, Shah's original video has completely different wordings and connotations, said the complainant.
In his original speech, Shah had said that if the BJP comes to power, they will finish the unconstitutional Muslim reservation and this right will be given to the SCs, STs and OBCs of Telangana, as per the complainant.
The fake video of the Union Home Minister had gone viral on social media and was shared by several Congress officials on their social media handles, claiming that the BJP was preparing to scrap reservations.
The accused persons doctored the video of the speech and circulated it widely on various social media platforms, Karpe claimed.
The complainant also requested police to take down the video immediately and register a case against the accused persons, who shared it for allegedly causing disruption, enmity and hatred in different castes.
Based on the complaint, the case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act at the BKC cyber police station against the social media handle of Maharashtra Youth Congress and 16 others, who had allegedly shared the doctored video on various social media platforms, the official said.
Investigations in the case were continuing, he said.
Follow us
