May 04, 2024 07:30 AM IST
Five Congress workers from party’s Telangana unit were arrested in connection with the morphed video of Union home minister Amit Shah’s speech at an election rally in Siddipet last month
Five Congress workers from party’s Telangana unit were arrested in connection with the morphed video of Union home minister Amit Shah’s speech at an election rally in Siddipet last month, said police on Friday, adding the workers were later released on bail.
The Hyderabad Cyber Crime police on Friday announced the arrest of five people for allegedly circulating the morphed video of Shah’s speech at an election rally.
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Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (cyber crimes) Dara Kavitha said the five arrested – Pendyala Vamsi Krishna, Manne Satish, Pettam Naveen, Asma Tasleem and Koya Geetha – were produced before the 12th additional city metropolitan magistrate court at Nampally on Friday afternoon.
“The court released them on bail on payment of ₹10,000 each along with two sureties. The accused have been asked to appear before the investigating officer on every Monday and Friday until further orders,” the DCP said.
She said the cybercrime police had received a complaint from Bharatiya Janata Party state general secretary G Premender Reddy at 7.30 pm on April 27, in which he had stated that the Telangana Congress, on its X handle, posted a morphed/fabricated video of Amit Shah’s speech delivered at Siddipet on April 23.
“The complaint said an act of the Telangana Congress and its social media team in morphing or fabricating the Union home’s minister’s speech was an offence under the Information Technology Act. The deliberate and mischievous act is aimed at misleading the people and voters creating fear amongst the OBC communities,” Kavitha said quoting the complaint.
Based on the complaint, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police registered a case under Sections 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation), 505(1)C (circulation of any statement intending to incite people or a community), 171 G (publishing or posting a false statement related to the conduct of a candidate with an intent to affect the result of an election) and 502(2) (offering of information defamatory in nature) of the Indian Penal Code, besides under relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 .
The DCP said the accused were working in the social media unit of the Telangana Congress and their job was “to monitor social media posts related to political parties and upload them on their official and personal social media handles”.
After Union minister Amit Shah’s speech at Siddipet on April 23, Vamsi Krishna received a morphed video of the speech on WhatsApp and he uploaded the same on the Congress party handle on X – “@INCTelangana.” It was shared in various WhatsApp groups.
The remaining four accused saw the video and further shared it on their individual social media handles. “When notified by X about the sensitive content, they deleted it. Thus, they violated the Model Code of Conduct,” the DCP said.
The cyber crime police seized five mobile phones, a tab, two Acer laptops and two CPUs from the accused, Kavitha said, adding the public are cautioned not to circulate any videos or photos related to the political parties, as it may account for breach of model code of conduct related to the ongoing elections.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.
