A YouTuber named Tuhin Mondal from Taherpur in the Nadia district was detained on 26th September 2022 by the Kolkata Police for reportedly posting derogatory memes on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The content creator was taken into custody by Kolkata Police’s Intelligence Branch at his home in Bapujinagar, which is near Taherpur police station. He was nabbed after a 21-year-old guy name Sagar Das submitted a complaint a week ago at Taratala police station in south Kolkata.
West Bengal | Kolkata Police arrested a YouTuber Tuhin Mondal from Nadia’s Taherpur for allegedly making offensive memes against CM Mamata Banerjee
— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2022
He was arrested on September 26. His mobile phone has also been seized: Kolkata Police
The complainant had named several YouTube channels in his complaint, saying that they are posting memes by distorting the speeches of CM Mamata Banerjee. He alleged that there is a risk of unrest spreading in the state as a result of those meme videos. The channels are publishing derogatory and offensive remarks on the chief minister for financial benefits, and they may lead to a law and order situation in society, the complaint had further alleged.
After receiving the complaint, the police started the investigation and traced the mamIP addresses of the YouTube channels named in the complaint. They found that Tuhin Mondal from Taherpur were making these memes and uploading them on YouTube. Based on the probe, Mandal was arrested from his house.
An officer of the Kolkata police said, “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.”
Seven other content creators are also named in the complaint. The police are in search of the other accused. A case is also filed under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The police have also seized the mobile phone of the arrested 29-years-old Tuhin Mondal.
This is not the first incident in which the West Bengal police have arrested someone for allegedly insulting CM Mamata Banerjee. YouTuber Roddur Roy was detained by Kolkata Police in June after he allegedly insulted the chief minister during a Facebook Live session. Roy was arrested based on the complaint of Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen, who alleged that the YouTuber had used derogatory language against the Chief Minister in a Facebook live session. Ambikesh Mahapatra, a professor at Jadavpur University, was detained in April 2012 by the Kolkata Police after he was accused of having sent an email with a caricature of Banerjee in it.
