Ghaziabad: Two booked for sharing video that Pak PM tweeted, then deleted

The two have been booked under relevant sections of the IT Act and Section 153 (provocation to riot) of the IPC.

“We had received information that a video had been forwarded on two different WhatsApp groups. It was the same video tweeted by the Pakistani PM, which was later declared fake by appropriate government authorities. The two men somehow got possession of the video and tried to incite tensions between communities by forwarding it. We identified them. They have been booked and will soon be arrested,” said Neeraj Jadaun, SP Rural, Ghaziabad. He refused to share the names of the two men.

According to police, out of the two groups, one is run by a mediaperson and the other by a lawyer. Police first received the information Friday afternoon and traced the video to the two groups. Police, thereafter, asked the administrators to file two different FIRs and share information of the participants who shared the video.

“The role of the admins was not found to be incriminating. We gave them the benefit of doubt. Due to the volume of messages, admins often do not notice each message. Action was taken in a few hours and they provided all the information,” said Jadaun.

Ghaziabad Police has expanded their scope of investigation to find if other people in the area are sharing the same video.

“We are constantly requesting people not to share videos which incite communal passions, else action will be taken. In this particular case, it is possible that there is another source who downloaded the video and forwarded it to other people. We are working on such links. Further investigation will take place,” added Jadaun.