BJP leader booked for ‘sharing fake pictures of Baduria clashes’

Mobs had torched police vehicles, vandalised shops and blocked roads leading to the India-Bangladesh border during the recent clashes in Baduria. (Source: Facebook photo)

Kolkata Police on Monday lodged a case against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for allegedly posting pictures of 2002 Gujarat riots on Twitter and passing it off as that of the violence in Baduria. Sharma had posted pictures of charred vehicles, claiming them to be images of Baduria violence. Twitterati, however, quickly pointed out that the pictures she shared were that of the Gujarat riots.

She even asked her followers to join a protest at Jantar Mantar against the rising “lawlessness” in West Bengal. The case was lodged based on a complaint filed by one Ratan Roy of Purba Putiari area at Regent Park Police Station in south Kolkata. Another complaint was lodged at Gariahat Police Station, which is being treated as an FIR.

“A case has been registered against Nupur Sharma, who is a resident of Delhi. The accused had posted fake pictures, which were liked by 2,000 people,” said Joint CP (Crime) Vishal Garg. Sharma has been booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc.), 295A (deliberate acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 465 (punishment for forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC. Some of them are non-bailable sections.