A 29-year-old YouTuber was arrested in West Bengal’s Nadia district on Tuesday, and seven others are being sought for allegedly creating provocative, derogatory, and abusive memes about chief minister Mamata Banerjee. According to the police, the content creator, Tuhin Mondal, was arrested from his home in Bapujinagar by officers from the Kolkata Police Intelligence Branch.
By editing parts of the chief minister’s speeches, the YouTuber created derogatory memes.
Mondal was arrested after a 21-year-old man filed a complaint against him at Taratala police station in South Kolkata last week, according to the police.
“Mondal, who has no steady income, is believed to have made provocative, derogatory, and abusive memes by editing parts of the chief minister’s speeches to defame her. The complainant claimed that such acts can incite violence and disrupt peace,” the Kolkata police quoted.
The complaint also names at least seven other content creators, and police are looking for them. According to the police, a case has been filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In a similar incident in June, Kolkata police arrested YouTuber Roddur Roy for abusing the chief minister during a Facebook live session after TMC leader Riju Dutta filed a complaint. Roy allegedly blamed CM Banerjee and other TMC leaders for singer KK’s death.
Earlier in April 2012, Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for allegedly forwarding an email containing a cartoon of Banerjee.