Manipur police have filed an FIR against Bangladeshi resident Arijit Biswas over posts on X
Imphal:
A man from Dakshin Dinajpur in West Bengal has been charged by Manipur police for allegedly making defamatory social media posts against the state government, Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The suspect, Arijit Biswas, allegedly posted on
The complainant alleged that Mr Biswas, a resident of Balurghat, had posted on X that the Manipur government is ‘sponsoring’ ethnic violence and committing ‘genocide’.
A copy of the FIR has been sent to the Commissioner (Home) for further action, people with direct knowledge of the matter told DailyExpertNews on Thursday. The charges have been filed under various sections related to promoting enmity between communities on religious and racial grounds, including a non-bailable section of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Police will call on Mr. Biswas to join the investigation, people familiar with the matter said. A team could also be sent to arrest him if he refuses to cooperate with the investigation.
“Using social media platforms as a tool, the defendants promoted misleading statements to destabilize a democratically elected government, disrupt communal harmony by creating enmity between communities, and defame the state government and a particular community” , the complainant said in the FIR. which DailyExpertNews has seen.
“The suspect has deliberately made these false propaganda/misleading statements to perpetuate and escalate the violence in Manipur. His unlawful activities pose a threat not only to the security of the state but also to the nation,” the complainant said.
This is the latest police case filed in the capital Imphal over alleged defamatory content. The Editors’ Guild of India is also facing two FIRs over their report on the ethnic clashes, published by a three-member crowdfunded team after a four-day stay in Manipur, which the state government said was “false, fabricated and sponsored” .
Police in the northeastern states have in some sensitive cases sent their personnel to arrest and bring in people outside the state. Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani was arrested in Banaskantha district of the state by an Assam Police team in April last year. his tweets about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was taken to Assam to face trial. He was later released on bail.
