Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari is expected to join the probe and appear before the Ghaziabad Police in connection with the fake hate crime made viral on social media earlier this month.
As per a Hindustan Times report, Maheshwari while denying any role in the Ghaziabad fake hate crime going viral agreed to join the probe through video conference. However, the Ghaziabad Police had sent fresh summons on Tuesday asking Maheshwari to appear before it citing lack of conviction in response.
“Clarification given by you is inappropriate. Being the MD of Twitter in India, you are the representative of the company. Therefore, you are bound by the Indian law to cooperate in the investigation,” read the notice sent by the police.
Reportedly, the notice also stated that the police have prepared a list of 11 questions for Maheshwari to answer including the platform’s failure to remove the fake video which could have led to communal violence.
However, Maheshwari who was supposed to reach the Loni Kotwali police station at 10:30 this morning had not arrived by then. Circle Officer (Loni), Atul Kumar Sonkar informed that he is expected to reach by noon.
Manish Maheshwari files a writ petition
In another update, Maheshwari, who is a resident of Bangalore has filed a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court against the notice issued by UP Police under Section 41A of CRPC.
Ghaziabad Video: Karnataka High Court to shortly hear plea filed by #Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari challenging the Section 41A of CrPC notice issued by the UP Police on him.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 24, 2021
As per Live Law India, Justice G Narendra of the Karnataka High Court heard the case. Maheswari’s counsel informed the court that he is an employee of Twitter and hence cannot be held accountable for the alleged offence. As Maheswari is a Bangalore resident, he requested for answering to Ghaziabad police’ questions via video conferencing.
As per the latest reports, Maheswari has been granted interim protection from arrest and has been allowed to appear for police questioning via video conferencing by the Karnataka High Court.
Ghaziabad fake hate crime
SP leader Umed Pahalwan (now under arrest) along with the victim of the Ghaziabad crime had turned the crime into a fake religious ploy to use it to his political advantage.
Abdul Samad- an occult amulet maker was thrashed by Parvez, Adil and others during a personal altercation. Soon a muted video of Samad being beaten and then Pahalwan’s scripted and highly inflammatory Facebook live video with him claiming the perpetrators made Samad to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ surfaced on social media. These videos were first picked up by self-acclaimed fact-checked Mohammed Zubair and then spread like wildfire on social media with the help of the left ecosystem.
The Uttar Pradesh Government had then initiated an action against Twitter for failing to take down tweets despite clarifications and warnings by the police to not fan communal tensions on the basis of a fake video.
An FIR was lodged against the social media platform, and eight others including Rana Ayyub and Saba Naqvi in connection with the case.
