Bihar migrants fake news case: YouTuber Manish Kashyap sent to judicial custody for 14 days

The right-wing YouTuber posted claiming migrant workers from Bihar were being tortured and killed in Tamil Nadu for speaking in Hindi.

ByVinodh Arulappan

Published Mar 31, 2023 | 1:10 AMUpdatedMar 31, 2023 | 7:46 AM

Bihar migrants fake news case: YouTuber Manish Kashyap sent to judicial custody for 14 days

YouTuber Manish Kashyap, the alleged mastermind in spreading fake videos on social media about Bihari migrants being attacked in Tamil Nadu, was remanded in 14 days of judicial custody on Thursday, 30 March, by a Madurai judicial magistrate court.

The right-wing YouTuber was posting videos from his Twitter handles stating that migrant workers from Bihar were being subjected to torture and even being hanged to death in Tamil Nadu for speaking in Hindi.

The videos were shared widely and the Bihar and Tamil Nadu governments were forced to issue multiple clarifications over these fake clips.

Further, the migrant workers working in Tamil Nadu and their families in Bihar were rattled after the video was widely circulated through social media platforms, and were even carried by mainstream news outlets.

A team of Bihar government officials visited Tamil Nadu and clarified that no such incidents had occurred.

Related: How misinformation, fake videos on Bihar migrant workers spread

Nabbing the YouTuber 

The Tamil Nadu police formed a special team to nab the culprits who circulated the videos. The team went to Bihar to nab Kashyap on a case registered by the Madurai police, and camped in Patna.

Eight other FIRs were filed against the YouTuber in the state. The Bihar police also registered 13 cases against him.

Meanwhile, the special team, with the help of Bihar police, nabbed Kashyap. He was produced in a Patna court on Wednesday, and a transit warrant was obtained by the Tamil Nadu police.

On Thursday, he was taken to Tamil Nadu and later produced before a judicial magistrate first class at the District Court complex.

He is now lodged in Madurai central prison.

Sources from Madurai police told South First that they would be filing a petition in the magistrate court on Monday seeking custody of the YouTuber for further investigation.

Related: 4 arrested in Coimbatore for assaulting migrant workers

When did migrant fake news first appear?

It was towards the end of February that several fake videos making false claims that migrants were being attacked and killed in Tamil Nadu were circulated by some Hindi media. These were amplified on social social media by several leaders of the BJP, especially those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Despite Tamil Nadu police and DMK leaders, including Chief Minister MK Stalin, issuing several clarifications and independent fact-checkers calling out the fake news, the misrepresented videos continued to be in circulation, leading to a political slugfest between the BJP and the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Several mainstream Hindi media outlets like Punjab Kesari Bihar-Jharkhand, Dainik Bhaskar, ABP Bihar, and Zee Bihar-Jharkhand aired or printed the news, and pushed the videos on social media as well.

The Tamil Nadu police said on 4 March that cases have been filed against several people, including journalists, for spreading false information. Among those booked were the CEO and editor of the news website OpIndia.

Related: Bihar unit peddled fake news, says BJP TN vice-president

The police formed special teams to apprehend those booked, even as it stepped up vigilance in areas where Hindi-speaking migrants lived in Tamil Nadu.

The Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police also booked state BJP chief K Annamalai for instigating hatred and violence by peddling disinformation on the migrant workers’ issue, even as the party vice president blamed the BJP and UP arms of the BJP for spreading fake news without verifying it.