A day after registering a case on doctored videos of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi Police on Monday asked Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to join the probe on May 1 and record his statement.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X, informing the arrest of Reetom Singh by the Assam police. Singh is reportedly the War Room Coordinator of the Assam Congress.
Flagging the issue in a public rally at Bagalkote (Karnataka), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is a habit among people to forward certain information that comes on various platforms without verifying.
“Those who have lost elections or have lost (while being in) the fray are using technology to make fake videos. Misusing artificial intelligence they put out wrong things in my voice in social media — this is creating a big threat.” Appealing to people to inform police or the BJP about such fake videos and legal action will follow, the PM said the law of this country will not allow people to play such games with anyone,” the PM alleged.
The BJP on Monday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress, alleging that it circulated a “deep fake and morphed” video of Shah to derail the poll process, and demanded strict action against the party. A BJP delegation comprising Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the party’s national media department in-charge Anil Baluni also complained against the Trinamool Congress (TMC), alleging that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led party has been using violence as a weapon, and demanded that the poll panel ensure a free and fair election in the state.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police had registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act following a complaint that doctored videos of Shah were being circulated on social media platforms. According to sources, a team of Delhi Police is expected to visit the Congress office in Telangana by Monday evening.
Sources said the police have served notices to five people, including Reddy, who posted the video on X. Reddy has been asked to appear with his mobile phone allegedly used for posting the fake video on X. According to sources, top MHA officials held a high-level meeting with top cops of the Delhi Police regarding Home Minister’s doctored video. Sources said that Reddy had shared the video on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter). He has been asked to bring his electronic devices, including his phone, from which the video was posted. Around half-a-dozen people, including Congress leaders, who shared the doctored videos are also being summoned by Delhi Police.
The Special Cell 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 he is seen giving a commitment to abolish quota for Muslim community on religious ground in Telangana were changed to make it seem that he was advocating scrapping of all reservations.
The complaint filed by Sinku Sharan Singh, DC, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) claimed that some doctored videos are being circulated on social media with “the intent of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to to affect public tranquility and public order.” Singh also shared links of videos with the police.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell has now approached social media platforms to identify the source of the video and those who have spread it. “We have formed many different teams to investigate the matter properly and arrest the main culprits. We have written to X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media regarding the video. We are investigating both the source of the video and those responsible for its widespread circulation,” said the sources.
The Police has asked Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to join the probe on May 1 and is headed to the state, according to sources. The authorities have served notices to five people, including Reddy, who posted the video on X. Telangana CM, who also happens to be Congress Telangana Chief, has been asked to appear with his mobile phone allegedly used for posting the fake video on X. The police will also likely go to the grand old party’s office in Telangana.
The case was registered under various sections of the IPC and the IT Act.
The Delhi Police had filed an FIR under sections 153 (wantonly causing provocation with the 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 section 66C of the Information Technology Act..
According to the FIR the MHA, in its complaint, stated that it has been found that some doctored videos are being circulated by users of Facebook and X. “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 law,” the FIR.
