Representatives of the Bengali film industry met police commissioner Manoj Verma at the city police headquarters in Lalbazar on Friday to report targeted harassment of industry members and their families on social media.

An 18-member team, which included actors Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhayay, Jissu Sengupta, and producers Shrikant Mohata and Nispal Singh, went to Lalbazar for the meeting.

The president of the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India, Swarup Biswas, led the team.

“Our primary concern is that many of the Bengali film industry members are being defamed and targeted through social media. Even their family members are not spared. We condemn this,” Biswas, brother of minister Aroop Biswas, said after the meeting.

The delegation met commissioner Verma, the joint commissioners and the deputy commissioner of the cyber wing at the conference hall in Lalbazar.

According to the police, representatives of the film industry have reported experiencing “targeted attacks” and efforts to defame them and their family members through Facebook, Instagram, and various other social media channels.

Sources said the police had accepted their complaint letter and they would “consider” initiating a probe.

Sources stated that, according to the complaint, every time a movie is set for release, there is an alleged attempt to defame its actors and others attached to it through social media.

The team is said to have told the police that the problem had become “unbearable and unacceptable”.

The police have a separate social media cell through which they keep track of cases of cyberbullying, trolling and cyber harassment.

“If we receive specific instances, we will track the profiles from where the comments have been made or accounts that have been used for posting any malicious content,” said an officer at the city police headquarters.

The Tollywood team included directors, producers, technicians and actors. Rana Sarkar, Pankaj Ladia, Piya Sengupta, Koushani Mukherjee, and Bony Sengupta were among those present.

The president of the Eastern India Motion Picture Association (EIMPA), Piya Sengupta, was also part of the delegation at Lalbazar.

She told Metro: “Personal attacks have become rampant on social media. Threats of murder and rape are being issued. This needs to stop.”

The distribution of screens to films has been a contentious issue within the industry.

The competition among major budget releases intensifies the discord, frequently spilling over onto social media platforms.

In the past, the vast fan bases of actors have been criticized for targeting individuals linked to competing films on social media.

Parambrata told to Metro: “I thought this statement was essential. Trolling today knows no bounds. With a social media environment that behaves like an animal, one must be prepared for a certain level of trolling, as it has provided people with unrestricted access to the lives of public figures. We have essentially invited that threat into our lives. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the distinction between criticism, trolling, and personal threats or slander/defamation will be completely blurred. I feel that a grievance or complaint handling body should be in place. My visit was in solidarity with the overarching theme. I did not have any specific event or issue to address personally.”

Additional reporting by Debraj Mitra