Uttar Pradesh police have sent a legal notice to Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari asking him to join the investigation into the circulation on social media of a video of an assault on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad on June 5.
Maheshwari is to answer to allegations that Twitter had failed to stop the spread of the video that allegedly incited communal “animosity and hatred”.
The summons to Maheshwari comes three days after Uttar Pradesh police’s FIR against Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news portal The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair, Rana Ayyub and Saba Naqvi, and Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani and Sama Mohammad for sharing the video clip on social media. Maheshwari is not specifically named in the FIR.
The notice sent to Maheshwari by Ghaziabad police read: “Some people used their Twitter handles as a tool to spread animosity and hatred in the society. Twitter did not take any cognisance of such messages and let the anti-social messages go viral. The case is being investigated and your participation is mandatory. Report to the Loni border police within seven days after receiving this letter to register your response.”
A police officer in Ghaziabad said. “A legal notice has been sent to Maheshwari over the assault video that was made viral with the intent of provoking communal unrest. He has been asked to appear at Loni police station (in Ghaziabad district) and record his statement within seven days.”
Twitter declined to comment when the news agency Reuters got in touch with it over the police summons, and Maheshwari did not respond to a request for comment.
If the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh pursues the FIR with vigour, it is expected to become a test case, especially since there is no official word yet that micro-blogging platform Twitter has lost its protective cover under the revised IT rules from pesky lawsuits after failing to comply with new grievance-redress measures.
On Thursday, Delhi police had received a complaint from a lawyer against Maheshwari, actress Swara Bhasker and others in connection with the social media video and the matter is under inquiry.
The elderly man in the video, Abdul Samad, has accused a group of beating him up, chopping off his beard and asking him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” in Loni.
The police have ruled out any communal element, claiming that a dispute over amulets (tabeez) sold by Samad had led to the assault on him by six men, who included Hindus and Muslims. Three suspects have been arrested.
Samad, a Bulandshahr resident, and his family have categorically denied the police’s claims.
“I never did exorcism or sell amulets. I am a traditional carpenter-blacksmith,” Samad told reporters.
Information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lashed out at Twitter this week over the Ghaziabad incident, saying its failure to act was “perplexing”. Prasad has said Twitter has not complied with the new rules that required them to appoint compliance officers by May 26.
