Delhi Police asks Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to join probe on May 1 in Amit Shah's doctored video case

Sources said that Reddy had shared the video on 'X' (formerly known as Twitter). He has been asked to bring his electronic devices, including his phone, from which the video was posted.

New Delhi: A day after registering a case on doctored videos of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi Police on Monday asked Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to join the probe on May 1 and record his statement.

Responding to the notice during a rally in Karnataka's Kalaburagi, Revanth said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now using the Delhi Police to win the elections after using CBI, ED and Income Tax. 

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act on Sunday following a complaint that doctored videos of Shah were being circulated on social media platforms. Investigators have approached social media platforms to identify the source of the video and those who have spread it.

Sections 153 (causing provocation with intention to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 465 (forgery), 469 (forgery to harm the reputation of any party), and 171G (publishing false statement with intent to affect the result of an election) of the IPC are among the provisions invoked in the FIR.

The doctored video had statements of Shah in which a commitment to abolish quota for Muslims on religious grounds in Telangana was changed to make it seem that he was advocating scrapping of all reservations. 

Sources said Reddy had shared the video on 'X'. He has been asked to bring his electronic devices, including his phone, from which the video was posted. Around half-a-dozen people, including Congress leaders, who shared the doctored videos are also being summoned by Delhi Police.

The complaint filed by Sinku Sharan Singh, DC, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) claimed that some doctored videos are being circulated on social media with "the intent of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquillity and public order." Singh also shared links of videos with the police. 

"The video seems to be doctored, spreading misleading information with the intention of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquillity and public order issues. It is requested to kindly take necessary legal action as per the provisions of law," Singh said in his complaint.

The BJP also approached the Election Commission against the Congress, alleging that it circulated a “deep fake and morphed” video of Shah to derail the poll process.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters after meeting the EC, "the Congress wants to derail the entire election process through a deep fake and morphed video (of Shah). We raised a complaint before the EC today against it. The Congress has tried to create confusion among people by posting a deep fake video from its official handle.” 

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya claimed that the Telangana Congress unit was circulating a doctored video of Shah that was entirely fabricated and capable of inciting widespread violence.

Senior Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who was formerly in-charge of Telangana Congress, "strongly" condemned the Delhi Police notice and said, "no leader should be threatened for speaking up against RSS policies. RSS wants to stop reservation. This is an attack on the people of Telangana."

Another MP Karti P Chidambaram said, "Delhi Police, which comes under the MHA, will summon Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, how convenient."

Telangana Congress spokesperson and legal advisor Ramachandra Reddy said they have received a notice from Delhi Police seeking information and evidence from social media head Satish Manne.