The Economic Offence Unit of the Bihar police has lodged an FIR against Manish Kashyap, a prominent YouTuber, in a case related to the sharing of a fake video of alleged attacks on Bihari migrants in Tamil Nadu.
A four-member committee had visited Tamil Nadu to probe the case, and had submitted its report to the Chief Minister’s Office on March 11.
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The fake video had created panic among Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Kashyap was booked under Sections 153/153(a), 153(b), 505 (1) b, 505 (1) c, 468/471/120 (b) and 67 of the IT Act, 2000.
FIRs were also lodged against Aman Kumar, Rakesh Tiwari and Yuvraj Singh Rajput. According to the police, the mastermind was Manish Kashyap.
In a separate case, a youth, identified as Umesh Mahto, was arrested from Gopalganj district on March 11 for spreading rumours about the death of a migrant worker in Tamil Nadu. He had uploaded a fake video on social media.
“The Economic Offence Unit found that the videos on social media were fake, and FIRs have been lodged under several sections. Ten-member committees are probing the case and, altogether, 30 videos have been identified, along with 26 Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts. The investigation is under way. Manish Kashyap tweeted a video on 8th March, which is also fake and objectionable. Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, of Gopalganj district, who uploaded that fake video, revealed during interrogation that it was shot in a rented house in Jakkanpur, Patna, on March 6,” Additional Director-General of Police J.S. Gangwar said.
On Sunday, Manish Kashyap posted a photo featuring handcuffs on his new Twitter handle, claiming that he had been arrested by the Bihar police. The authorities issued a statement saying the photo was fake, and he had not been arrested yet. The Bihar police said it was an old photo, and another FIR would be lodged in this regard.
According to an EOU official, a fresh FIR was lodged against Mr. Kashyap under Sections 153 (b)/504/505 (1) (b)/505 (1) (c)/468/471/120 B of the IPC and 66/66 (d)/74 of the IT Act, 2000.
Ever since the FIR was lodged, Mr. Kashyap, Mr. Tiwari and Mr. Rajput have been absconding, and the EOU is on the lookout for them.
In 2019, the statue of King Edward VII installed in the premises of Maharani Janki Kunwar Hospital was damaged in West Champaran district of Bihar. Mr.Kashyap had supported the vandalizing statue in the name of nationalism by posting several photos and videos on social media. Police had lodged an FIR against him.
Tripurari Tiwari alias Manish Kashyap hails from West Champaran district of Bihar. His YouTube channel ‘Sach Tak’ has lakhs of followers. He contested the Assembly election from the Chanpatia Assembly constituency as an Independent candidate. The BJP’s Umakant Singh had defeated Congress candidate Abishek Ranjan and won the seat. Mr. Kashyap secured 9,239 votes.
The State Rural Development Department Secretary D. Bala Murugan led the four-member team to Tamil Nadu and informed the Bihar Chief Minister’s Office that several purported videos of attacks on Bihari migrants were fake.
After returning from Tamil Nadu, Mr. Bala Murugan said that he had visited Chennai, Tiruppur and Coimbatore to meet migrant workers from Bihar. The three other members of the team were Inspector General of Police P. Khanan, Labour Resource Department Special Secretary Alok Kumar, and Special Task Force Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar.
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