Two supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party were arrested in Assam and Tripura over the last two days after they put up allegedly derogatory posts on social media, NDTV reported.
In Assam, the police arrested Nitu Bora, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s information technology cell on Thursday based on a complaint. “He made derogatory remarks against a particular community on Facebook,” Morigaon Superintendent of Police Swapneel Deka told the Hindustan Times.
Bora had claimed that the ruling BJP government in the state was unable to protect indigenous Assamese from migrant Muslim settlers. He also blamed Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for the state of affairs.
Two other BJP workers were called in for questioning on similar allegations. One person was called in for questioning after he posted fake news that a man of a particular community had raped a woman of the local tribal community. “The person [who posted the fake news] is a BJP supporter,” said Udalguri Superintendent of Police Longnit Teron. Another person was questioned in Tinsukia in Upper Assam for posting inflammatory and communal comments on Facebook, said Superintendent of Police Shiladitya Chetia.
Meanwhile, the police reportedly raided the house of another BJP IT cell member on Wednesday night, reported IANS. However, it is not yet known why the raids at the residence of Hemanta Baruah, who hails from Majuli, were conducted.
Tripura
The Tripura Police on Wednesday arrested a BJP supporter for allegedly defamatory posts against Chief Minister Biplab Deb on Facebook, reported The Telegraph. The post was about alleged marital discord between the chief minister and his wife. Anupam Paul was charged with forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy.
Deb and his wife had claimed that it was a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to tarnish his image. “It is a baseless and motivated post which is in bad taste,” he had said.
A suo moto case was registered against Paul at the West Agartala Police Station in April. Paul has been absconding since April 26, said Inspector-General (crime branch) Puneet Rastogi. “We arrested him from the Chandni Chowk area, based on a tip-off,” he said. “We have petitioned a local court for transit remand so that Paul can be brought to Tripura for investigation.” According to Paul’s Facebook account, he is a former reporter of a local television channel.
Earlier, the Tripura Police earlier had arrested freelance television journalist Saikat Talapatra and a police constable for sharing one of Paul’s posts. They were later released on bail.
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