HT Bureau
NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD/GUWAHATI, April 29: Delhi Police has summoned Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy on May 1 for questioning in a case of a doctored video of Union home minister Amit Shah circulated on social media and police in some BJP-ruled states also swung into action making the first arrest in Assam.
Notices have been issued to five members of the Telangana Congress, including its chief Reddy, who posted the video on X, sources said, adding that a team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell handed over a notice to the Chief Minister’s Office on Monday.
They have been asked to appear with their mobile phones, laptops, tablets or any other electronic device through which they have created, uploaded and tweeted the video on their X accounts, the sources said.
Addressing a Congress rally at Sedam in Karnataka,Reddy said “No one here is afraid” of such notices and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now using Delhi Police to win elections.
On Monday, the BJP also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress, alleging that it circulated the “deep fake and morphed” video of Shah to derail the poll process and demanded strict action against the party.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that one person has been arrested in connection with the fake video.
“Assam police have arrested an individual named Reetom Singh in connection with the fake video involving Home Minister Sri @AmitShah,” Sarma said in a post on X.
Reetom Singh, 31, is associated with the Assam Congress and functions as the party’s ‘War Room Coordinator’, according to his X profile.
A Congress spokesperson said the party is not aware of any fake video and “it must have been shared in his personal capacity”.
Assam Police chief public relations officer Pranabjyoti Goswami said in a statement that a case was registered at Panbazar police station based on a complaint regarding the circulation of a “distorted and motivated” post on X about Shah.
The arrest was made on a day when Shah was in the state capital to campaign for BJP candidate of Guwahati Lok Sabha seat — Bijuli Kalita Medhi.
Goswami said police have seized two mobile phones and one laptop from Singh’s possession.
“Further investigation is being carried out,” the CPRO said.
The state Congress condemned the arrest.
“Arresting Reetam Singh is against democracy. Singh, who is a part of our ‘War Room’, was arrested in the midst of the elections only because he criticised the government works,” chairman of the state Congress’ Media Department, Bedabrat Bora, said in a statement.
Every person has the right to criticise the policies of a government and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah condemned the arrest of the young advocate while election campaigning is on, he added.
The party demanded immediate release of Singh, the statement said.
An APCC spokesperson earlier said that the party is not aware of any fake video and “it must have been shared in his personal capacity”.
Meanwhile, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police had on Sunday registered an FIR after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs, filed a complaint about the doctored video of Shah where his statements indicating a commitment to abolish quota for Muslims on religious ground in Telangana were changed to make it seem that he was advocating scrapping of all reservations.
The Delhi Police filed the FIR under sections 153 (causing provocation with intention to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 465 (forgery), 469 (forgery to harm the reputation of any party), and 171G (publishing false statement with intent to affect the result of an election) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Information Technology Act, the police said.
The sources in the Special Cell said that now arrests are likely to follow across the country.
In Jaipur, an FIR was lodged on the complaint of the social media department of the BJP in connection with the doctored video.
Cyber Crime SHO Shravan Kumar said that a case has been registered under sections 153A, 465, 171C (undue influence at elections) of the IPC and under the IT Act, adding that an investigation is on.
The sources in the Delhi Police on Monday said that Ramachandran Reddy, an advocate at the Congress Party Office in Telangana, has received the notice on behalf of Naveen Pettem (social media convener), Asma Tasleem (Congress spokesperson) and Shivan Kumar Ambala (state secretary). (With inputs from PTI)
