With more than 13 FIRs, Nagpur Police has established several investigative teams-only for ground level violence but also for social media activity.
The first FIR filed by the police mentioned the role of Fahim Shamim Khan in detail, making him booked with 51 other persons.
Another FIR, which mentioned six other social media handles, included NNTV’s local Utubar Mohammad Shahzad. Allegedly read the caption on his video, ‘Kalma ki chadar ko jalaya gaya’ and ‘Police ne jabrun lathi maari.’
“The police said that because the video went viral, and he has about 80,000 to 1 lakh followers, people were instigated to carry the riots. When the police took them away on March 17, they did not say anything. He said that a senior officer had called him. He said that he would let go for a fire.” Politician told Quint.
“Then, he gave us a notice about action and cedar. He was issued a notice in which Section 152 was implemented. It was not in the original FIR,” he said.
Jamal questioned selective targeting:
“This is a way to snatch people’s free speech. When videos like these are posted, people share them or like them. Action is being taken on them. You take a look at platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, people of all communities share all kinds of videos.”
Lohit MataniDCP, Cyber Cell, told what kind of social media handle and YouTube channels are being booked.
“Some accused specifically edited the video and provoked people to beat the stones, acting against them. Cyber cell is not specifically not examining the video to find out what was written on the Chadar, it’s a separate FIR case,” Matani said.
