Goa police set off to probe ‘conspiracy to defame state govt’, return empty-handed

The videos purportedly contained clips of YouTubers and an independent journalist, among others, alleging corruption in the sale of industrial land to real estate companies, and regarding a Bill that the government sought to introduce during the state Assembly and its ecological repercussions.

Police said the complainant initially mentioned four unknown mobile numbers from where the videos had been circulated. While no FIR has been registered, the Crime Branch initiated a probe considering “the sensitive nature of allegations in videos” and “possibility of a law and order issue”, police sources said.

A team of Crime Branch officials conducted enquiries after tracing the mobile phone numbers to Haryana’s Fatehabad district and West Delhi last week.

“During the probe, we found that videos had been shared from many more numbers. But when the location was traced to Fatehabad and Delhi, it was found that phones linked to those SIM cards were not compatible with WhatsApp and were basic handsets. The culprits could not be traced. It appears the modus operandi here is similar to the ones used by cyber fraudsters. The police team has now returned,” an officer said.

No “social media influencer” is under investigation, and police are only enquiring about the phone numbers that allegedly circulated the videos as part of a “conspiracy”, officers said.

However, an Opposition legislator alleged that the BJP government was “rounding up influencers” who were critical of its policies.

Vijai Sardesai, president of Goa Forward Party, said in a post on X last week, “Goa is going bankrupt. Fix this, instead of sending police to shoot the messengers… Rounding up a few influencers will not change the reality, and the reality is Goa is being ravaged.”

Among the clips included in the videos circulated as per the complaint was one that featured independent journalist Rohit Upadhyay. He had said in an August 15 video on Instagram that he learnt that police had been sent to arrest him because he published reports on scams, corruption, environmental destruction, and deteriorating law and order under the BJP government.

He later clarified to The Indian Express that he had “incorrectly assumed that Goa Police was looking to arrest me based on a screenshot of a video reported in local media”.

“However, it has come to my notice that this is not the case. Police have not summoned me or contacted me on this issue. I have since posted a clarification on my Instagram video regarding the same,” Upadhyay said.

In August last year, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had announced that the government was considering taking action against social media influencers who “defame” the state on social media.

The issue was raised by BJP MLA Krishna Salkar during Zero Hour in the Goa Assembly last year. In response, Sawant had said that the police’s cyber cell would conduct an inquiry to look into such incidents.