Third ‘Fake News’ Arrest in Bengal: BJP IT Cell Secy Arrested

BJP’s Tarun Sengupta was arrested for posting fake images and videos which may ‘incite communal violence’.

Bengal’s Basirhat has been rocked by communal riots since the night of 3 July.

(Photo: PTI)

The BJP’s IT Cell Secretary Tarun Sengupta was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from the city of Asansol in West Bengal’s Bardhaman district on Wednesday, as per a report by the Hindustan Times.

Sengupta faces charges of sharing “fake” photographs and videos on social media, which are deemed as sensitive to certain communities, and could potentially incite hate and rioting. Sengupta is allegedly the third person since Sunday to be detained on charges of sharing fake images.

Also Read: BJP’s Nupur Sharma Asks to ‘#SaveBengal’ Using 2002 Riots Image

Sengupta has been arrested from Asansol’s Hirapur area under non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said the report. The CID claimed, according to the same report, that Sengupta had shared the video some weeks ago, and was slapped with the charges in Suri police station, Birbhum district.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was quoted by HT as saying while addressing a public meeting in East Midnapore district on Monday:

The people of Bengal will not tolerate the fact that the BJP is using social media platforms by posting fake pictures and fake news to meet their political ends.

The Kolkata Police registered, on the same day, two non-bailable cases against Delhi-based BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for passing off a photo of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom on social media as a photograph of the Basirhat riots in West Bengal, last week.

Also Read: Exclusive: Basirhat Riot Victim’s Son Denies BJP’s Claim to Him

Mamata Banerjee has launched a strong verbal attack against the BJP for ostensibly attempting to incite communal violence by sharing deceptive and fake images on social media.

Moreover, a man from West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district was arrested on Sunday by the Cyber Crime Cell of the Kolkata Police for sharing a screengrab from a Bhojpuri film and claiming it was captured in riot-hit Baduria in the North 24 Parganas district. The photograph, which was widely shared by BJP members, shows a group of men (actors) trying to molest a woman (an actress), as per an HT report.

Also Read: Locals say Violence in Basirhat the ‘Handiwork’ of Outsiders

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)