In another development, two men were arrested in Erode for allegedly assaulting migrant workers from West Bengal.
The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday, 14 March, denied anticipatory bail to Uttar Pradesh’s BJP spokesperson Prashant Umrao.
The BJP leader is wanted in Tamil Nadu for allegedly spreading fake news, saying migrant labourers from Bihar were attacked and killed in the South Indian state.
In his petition, Umrao submitted that the case has been wrongly registered against him. His tweets were based on news covered by national news agencies and newspapers.
He also submitted that he shared the news unknowingly, and without verifying it. He had no intention to spread misinformation.
Opposing Umrao’s plea, the government pleader argued that even after the state police chief issued a clarification in the media and social media, the accused continued spreading the fake news.
Prashant Kumar Umrao. (ippatel/Twitter)
It was shared by several other social media users and created panic among migrant workers.
Pointing out that the petitioner failed to remove the objectionable tweets — despite a clarification by the government — the pleader argued that he had intentionally created unrest in the state.
Further, the police objected to granting anticipatory bail, saying he has to be interrogated in the case.
After hearing the arguments, Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan denied anticipatory bail to Umrao and sought a detailed counter-reply from the police, and adjourned the case.
Earlier, the Thoothukudi police filed an FIR against Umrao under Sections 153, 153(A), 504, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code, and a special team was formed to arrest him.
Umrao went into hiding and approached the Delhi High Court on 7 March. He was granted a transit anticipatory bail.
The Delhi High Court ordered him to surrender before the Madras High Court and seek advance bail in the case.
The court also directed the BJP spokesperson to provide his contact number and Google location to the Tamil Nadu police.
Meanwhile, two persons were arrested for allegedly assaulting migrant labourers in the Erode district.
According to police, a group of 35 migrant workers from West Bengal were working at a construction site in Gobichettipalayam’s Kanakampalayam area.
On Monday night, a few of them went to buy groceries. While making the purchases, a man identified as Manikandan and his friends entered into an altercation with the workers.
They allegedly assaulted two of the migrant workers. Based on a complaint by the workers, the Banglowpudur police filed an FIR and arrested Manikandan and his friend Srikanth. Later, they were remanded in judicial custody.
Another accused, Prathap, is on the run, the police said.
Starting late February, fake, dated and misrepresented videos that alleged that North Indian migrants were being attacked and killed in Tamil Nadu were circulated by some Hindi media and several leaders of the BJP, especially from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Despite multiple clarifications by the Tamil Nadu police and fact checks by independent fact-checkers, the misrepresented videos with false claims that migrant workers from Bihar were being “assaulted and even killed” in Tamil Nadu led to a political slugfest.
Several Hindi media houses like Dainik Bhaskar, ABP Bihar, Punjab Kesari Bihar-Jharkhand, Zee Bihar-Jharkhand used the same unrelated videos, without basic ethics of journalism like verification or cross-checks, to claim that migrants from Bihar were under attack in Tamil Nadu.
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