The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police has been instructed to probe the sharing and creation of the doctored video of AIUDF supremo Badruddin Ajmal.
The development was informed by the Additional Chief Election Officer in a letter to activist Saket Gokhale.
“The Director General of Police, Assam…has entrusted the investigation of the case to CID, Assam and the CID has been instructed to use all investigative tools including video forensics while conducting the investigation,” the letter read.
The doctored video was uploaded in the social media, by Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), a legal rights organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
LRO operates out of Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, activist Saket Gokhale has informed that he will write to the Maharashtra Home Department and Maharashtra DGP urging them to investigate whether the video was uploaded from the State.
“LRO is an organisation operating out of Maharashtra. I shall be separately writing to the Maharashtra Home Department and Maharashtra DGP to investigate whether the video was uploaded from Maharashtra which would make it an offense under jurisdiction of the state police,” Saket Gokhale said.
Earlier RTI activist Saket Gokhale had written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Assam chief secretary to take action against some national media journalists besides the promoter of a local Assamese news channel for airing the doctored video of AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal.
RTI activist Saket Gokhale in the letter written to ECI as well as Assam chief secretary has sought action against India TV anchor Archana Singh, DD News consulting editor Ashok Shrivastav, ABP anchor Astha Kaushik, News Nation consulting editor Deepak Chaurasia and News Live promoter Riniki Bhuyan Sharma.
AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal has threatened to sue LRO for uploading a doctored video in its social media pages.
The video, which went viral in the social media has been checked various independent fact checkers like the Boom and India Today Anti Fake News War Room.
The fact checkers found the video to be doctored.
The NGO – Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) had uploaded the video in its social media pages claiming that Ajmal made anti-national statements.
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Ajmal alleged that parts of a speech that he had delivered ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were merged in the doctored video.
“The doctored video says the Mughals ruled India for 800 years and the British ruled it for 200 years, and now Congress-AIUDF will make Assam an Islamic state. This is a fake video,” Badruddin Ajmal said.