In another arrest in the Amit Shah doctored video case, the Delhi Police on Friday took Arun Reddy, the administrator of the ‘Spirit of Congress’ account on X, into custody. 

A police official said Mr Reddy holds the post of the National Coordinator in the Social Media Wing of the Congress in Telangana and had played a role in circulating the edited video, in which the Union Home Minister purportedly says that the BJP would remove reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Officials said Mr Reddy, who was arrested from Delhi, deleted evidence from his phone and the device is now being sent for a forensic investigation. 

Five Congress workers were arrested in the case by the Telangana Police on Thursday based on a complaint by the state unit of the BJP. The arrested workers included the Congress’ Telangana Social Media Convenor. 

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has also been summoned by the Delhi Police but had sought four weeks to respond. The Congress leader has attacked the BJP for being vengeful towards him and his lawyer has told the police that he had no hand in creating or posting the doctored video. The lawyer also called the summons misdirected. 

“Your attribution that ‘video tweeted/retweeted by you on your X/ Twitter handle’ is pre-conceived and incorrect. It is categorically stated that my client has nothing to do with the creating, uploading or tweeting/retweeting of the alleged video,” the lawyer told the Delhi police. 

New Delhi:

The official X account of Jharkhand Congress was withheld on Wednesday after a ‘deepfake morphed video’ of Union Home Minister Amit Shah was posted on the social media handle.

“X withheld the account of Jharkhand Congress in response to a legal demand,” said the social media authorities.

Earlier, the Delhi Police special cell issued notice to Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur under Section 91 of the CrPC, asking him to present at the cell’s office on May 2 in connection with the doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah circulating on social media.

In a letter dated April 29, Inspector Naresh Malik Special Cell said, “This is to state that the above-mentioned case is being investigated by the undersigned. For the purpose of investigation, you are hereby directed through this notice to provide the below-mentioned details/documents/electronic gadgets to the undersigned and join the investigation on May 2, 2024, at 10.30 am at Room No 302, 3rd floor, IFSO office Special Cell Delhi Police.”

Delhi Police on Wednesday showed dissatisfaction over Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s reply in connection to Amit Shah’s fake video case.

Earlier in the day, a reply was filed by CM Telangana through his counsel. While speaking to ANI, Advocate Soumya Gupta said that she had received a notice under CrPC 91 in which it was asked from which source the video was.

According to Delhi Police sources, the investigation is not satisfied with the reply given by CM Telangana.

Meanwhile, Assam Police on Monday arrested Reetom Singh, the first person to be arrested in connection with the ‘doctored’ video case. It is alleged that the video clip was shared by several Congress leaders.

Earlier, the BJP’s Telangana unit filed a complaint against CM and the Congress’ state chief Revanth Reddy at the Cyber Crime police station, accusing the party of fabricating and morphing the speech of Amit Shah.

The complaint stated that the Telangana Congress Pradesh Congress Party, on its official X handle, posted a ‘morphed’ and ‘fabricated’ video of Amit Shah.

During his address at a public meeting in Congress-ruled Telangana, Shah said, “If the BJP forms the government here, we will withdraw the unconstitutional reservations to Muslims here. We will ensure that the SCs, STs and OBCs get quotas as guaranteed under the Constitution.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Delhi Police on Sunday registered a case over a doctored video circulating on social media platforms showing Union Home Minister Amit Shah advocating for the abolition of reservation quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The video, which has sparked controversy and allegations of misinformation, has prompted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to file a complaint seeking action against those responsible for it.

In response to concerns raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding the authenticity of the video, the Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on Sunday. The BJP has denounced the video by saying that it has been manipulated to distort Mr Shah’s original statements made during a political rally.

According to BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya, the video in question has been altered to misrepresent Mr Shah’s remarks on the issue of reservation quotas for Muslims in Telangana. 

“Congress is spreading an edited video which is completely fake and has the potential to cause large-scale violence. Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about removing the unconstitutional reservation given to Muslims, on the basis of religion, after reducing the share of SCs/STs and OBCs. This fake video has been posted by several Congress spokespersons. They must be prepared for legal consequences,” Mr Malviya said on Saturday.

.@INCTelangana is spreading an edited video, which is completely fake and has the potential to cause large scale violence.
Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about removing the unconstitutional reservation given to Muslims, on the basis of religion, after reducing share of SCs/STs and… pic.twitter.com/5plMsEHCe3

— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 27, 2024

The controversy surrounding the video escalated as various social media handles, including official accounts affiliated with the Congress, shared the doctored footage, alleging that it revealed the BJP’s “agenda to abolish SC/ST reservation quotas”. These claims have drawn sharp criticism from BJP leaders, who accuse the Congress of disseminating false information with the potential to incite social discord.

The MHA has attached a comprehensive report to its complaint, identifying the links and handles responsible for sharing the doctored video of the Home Minister.

With the FIR now registered, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell has begun its investigation into the origins of the fabricated video.