Abused Over Tweet on Migrant Workers, AAP Leader Files Complaint

AAP national executive member & spokesperson, Preeti Sharma Menon, filed a complaint with Mumbai and Kolkata police

AAP senior leader Preeti Sharma Menon files complaint after facing abused online on a tweet where she spoke about fifteen migrants being killed after a train ran over them in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad.

(Photo Courtesy: Preeti Sharma Menon/Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

After facing abusing on Twitter, Aam Aadmi Party national executive member and spokesperson, Preeti Sharma Menon, filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Mumbai and Kolkata police on 8 May.

On the same day, Menon had put out a Tweet regarding the tragic death of 15 migrant workers on the railway tracks in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad. The accused in the case, who goes by the handle @pokershah on Twitter responded by saying: “Presti I would suggest that you should provide cover to these migrants. All you need to do is just sit on middle of track and spread ur legs wide enough so that no train reaches to migrants walking/sleeping on track.”

According to an archived snap of @pokershah’s Twitter profiled dated 6 May, on Wayback machine, he goes by the name of Shash on Twitter with 70.8 K followers.

A resident of Mumbai herself, Menon also filed the complaint with Kolkata police after people on Twitter said that the handle that abused her, @pokershash, belonged to a man called Shashank Singh who is from Kolkata.

While it is being said that his name is Shashank Singh and was followed by PM Modi and Cabinet Minister Smriti Irani, The Quint has not been able to verify this claim independently.

Kolkata Police Starts Investigation

“While I am yet to get a direct response from the Mumbai police. I got a response from Kolkata police. It appears, this person tweeted, his name is Shashank Singh and he is from Kolkata. Kolkata police asked me to e-mail them, the DCP North from Kolkata police contact took further details and I believe they are in the process of filing an FIR,” Menon told The Quint.

Adding that someone from the Chitpur police station reached out to her, “They said the matter comes under their jurisdiction, so they wanted some more details from me. Like my age and other things, which were needed to file the FIR and I provided them the same,”

Taking cognisance of the complaint, Kolkata police tweeted to Menon, “We have started a case on your complaint and we are taking necessary legal action.”

Maha Home Minister Asks for ‘Strictest Action’

“I had written my complaint to the Maharashra CM, Uddhav Thackeray’s email ID. The chief minister’s office saw the complaint. They did not respond to me, but forwarded the mail with my complaint, marking me, to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Maharashtra. They asked them to take immediate cognisance of this,” Menon told The Quint.

Maharashta Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also responded to Menon’s tweet and asked Mumbai Commissioner of Police to look into the matter.

He tweeted, “ As a state which prides itself on the legacy of Savitribai Phule, we have zero tolerance of anyone outraging the modesty of any woman. @MahaCyber1 & @CPMumbaiPolice please look into this and initiate strictest action!”

The Quint has reached out to PRO of Deputy Commissioner of Maharashtra Police. The copy will be updated as and when he responds.