On Sunday, Kolkata Police announced that one rumour monger had been arrested for morphing a Bhojpuri film scene to spread hate. The news comes even as the situation remains tense in Basirhat where violence broke out after a youngster shared a post which allegedly insulted Prophet Muhammad. Earlier, a BJP leader from Haryana also shared a Facebook post which looks to address the supposed ‘plight of Hindus’ in West Bengal.
Vijeta Malik, whose social media profile says she’s ‘a Haryana State Executive Member of BJP and a sewika in RSS’, shared a Facebook post which shows a woman being assaulted. Malik shared a Facebook post which showed a woman’s sari being pulled, to show supposed lawlessness in the state. The picture however, is from a Bhojpuri movie titled Aurat Khilona Nahi, which starred BJP MP and Delhi President Manoj Tiwari.
Malik's social media profile states that she won the 'Bharat Gaurav' Award in 2014 which was presented to her by former Minister of State Culture and Tourism Shripadh Naik.
The post has now been deleted.
A man was also arrested from Sonarpur in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district for allegedly trying to incite communal violence, the police said today.
Bhabatosh Chatterjee (38) of Rupnagar in Sonarpur was arrested from his residence yesterday for uploading a still photograph on the social media and claiming that it was an image of Baduria, the scene of an ongoing communal unrest, a senior Kolkata Police officer said.
"The accused had uploaded (on the social media) a still photograph of a scene from a film and claimed it to be an image of the atrocities going on at Baduria," he added.
A complaint was filed by a person and subsequently, a Kolkata Police team arrested Chatterjee from his residence, the officer said.
A mobile phone and a laptop were also seized from the residence of the accused, he added.
A city court has sent the accused to police remand till July 11, said the officer.
Mamata slams Centre
Continuing her tirade against the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday held the Government responsible for the recent Baduria and Basirhat violence which has turned the entire state into chaos
.'The Centre wants to impose President's rule in the region,' she said. Mamata said there would demand for a judicial enquiry into the violence that occurred over a Facebook post.
'The Centre has a non-cooperative attitude; the border areas are being disturbed with foreign hands having good relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),' she said, while addressing a press conference here.
She further said that the law would take it own course against those who had planned the incident.
'The Centre is not cooperating to maintain law and order in the region,' she said.
Meanwhile, the North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C. Sudharkar Rao will take over the post.
Yesterday, the BJP, Left and the Congress delegations were prevented from visiting riot-hit areas in Basirhat by the police.
Earlier on Thursday Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requested the Opposition to refrain from reaching the communal-sensitive areas of North 24 Paraganas.
Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.
The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.
Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area yesterday forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.
The Mamata Banerjee Government yesterday claimed that situation has returned to normal in Baduria and surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, the State Government has temporarily suspended internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga to check the spread of rumours through social networking sites.
