Chhattisgarh: FIR against BJP leader for circulating ‘fake’ video of coal theft
An FIR has been registered against BJP leader and former IAS officer OP Chaudhary for allegedly circulating a fake video on social media regarding coal theft in a Coal India mine in Chhattisgarh’s Korba, police said.
On Saturday, a First Information Report (FIR) against Chaudhary was filed on the complaint of Congress leader Madhusudan Das from Bankimongra, Korba, under sections 505 (1)(b) of the IPC (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility).
On May 17, Chaudhary had tweeted a video in which several people were seen digging an open cast mine with pickaxes and gathering coal in sacks.
Alleging that the video was from the Gevra mines of Coal India in Korba district, Chaudhary wrote in a tweet, “This is an open act of organised Mafia Raj. Thousands of labourers are openly engaged in coal theft. Everything has reached beyond imagination in Chhattisgarh.”
Best of Express Premium
Premium
Premium
Premium
PremiumAfter the video was widely circulated on social media, on May 18 Ratan Lal Dangi, Inspector General of Police, Bilaspur range, under whose jurisdiction Korba falls ordered a probe into the video.
The Korba SP had also line attached two thana incharges in the area after the incident.
According to Chaudhary, even the (Korba) collector Ranu Sahu instituted an inquiry into the matter in May after the video went viral.
“If alerting the government to theft of coal is a bigger crime than the theft, then the government needs to set its priorities right. I am not scared of going to jail for it,” he said on Sunday.
Chaudhary said that the FIR is politically motivated. “The Congress is attacking me for putting forward the truth. But I was just exposing the state of affairs,” he said.
On Sunday, former Chief Minister Raman Singh tweeted in support of Chaudhary, calling Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel “weak”. “I have never seen such a weak chief minister, who can’t see truth. OP Chaudhary exposed your system’s shortcomings so he was booked under non-bailable offences,” Singh tweeted.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, however, justified the FIR and said that if found guilty, Chaudhary should be dealt with harshly as he is a former IAS officer. “Raman Singh is just trying to protect Chaudhary. He is an ex-IAS officer who under law and should have checked before tweeting the video,” Baghel told the reporters in Raipur.
