A man has been arrested from Nadia district for allegedly using chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s speeches to create memes that police said could cause communal tension and disturb peace in society.
At least seven YouTube channels have been identified that have allegedly broadcast the memes, the police said.
The accused — Tuhin Mondal, a resident of Taherpur in Nadia — has been tracked through one of the YouTube channels, an officer at Lalbazar said on Tuesday.
“We received a complaint from a resident of Taratala, who referred to some specific YouTube channels that were allegedly using the memes made with the chief minister’s speeches that could stoke communal tension in society,” the officer said.
Based on the complaint, the police started probing details of the YouTube channels and zeroed in on one person attached to the channels.
Mondal, 30, was arrested in connection with the case on Monday morning.
“We have seized the mobile phone of the accused as it is suspected to have been used for the alleged offence,” the officer said.
Mondal has been charged under IPC sections on dealing with intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, defamation, causing provocation with the intent to cause a riot and criminal conspiracy. If convicted, Mondal can be sent to jail for two years.
A senior officer in the Kolkata police said the police had been maintaining vigil over social media pages to prevent any form of mischief, especially during the festive season.
“We will take strict action against those who try to create any form of communal tension that could lead to riots,” the officer said.
The police said they were trying to ascertain if this was the handiwork of any individual or an organised racket with multiple members.
Mondal has been remanded in police custody.
