Delhi Police seeks info from social media platforms on source of doctored video of Amit Shah

New Delhi: Delhi Police has written to X and other social media platforms seeking information about the source of a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that was shared online, sources said on Monday.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had on Sunday registered an FIR after the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs, filed a complaint about the doctored video of Shah where his statements indicating a commitment to abolish quota for Muslim community on religious ground in Telangana were changed to make it seem that he was advocating scrapping of all reservations.

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell has now approached social media platforms to identify the source of the video and those who have spread it.

“We have formed many different teams to investigate the matter properly and arrest the main culprits. We have written to X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media regarding the video. We are investigating both the source of the video and those responsible for its widespread circulation,” said the source.

The Delhi Police had filed an FIR under sections 153 (wantonly causing provocation with the intention to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 465 (forgery), 469 (forgery to harm the reputation of any party), and 171G (publishing false statement with intent to affect the result of an election) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66C of the Information Technology Act, the police said.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is with PTI, the MHA, in its complaint, stated that it has been found that some doctored videos are being circulated by users of Facebook and X.

“The video seems to be doctored, spreading misleading information with the intention of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquillity and public order issues. It is requested to kindly take necessary legal action as per the provisions of law,” the FIR.