Manipur activist charged with sedition over FB post on meeting between Amit Shah, RS MP
Imphal: Political activist Erendro Leichombam has been charged with sedition for a Facebook post on a meeting between newly-elected Rajya Sabha member from Manipur Leishemba Sanajaoba and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, police sources said on Wednesday.
Leichombam shared a photo on July 24 that showed Sanajaoba, the titular king of Manipur, bowing before Shah with his hands folded, and captioned it "Minai Macha" in Meitei that translates to "servant's son".
A case was registered on Tuesday against Leichombam under IPC sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) 124 A (sedition) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), police sources said.
An investigation is underway in the matter, they said, refusing to divulge details. The photo was clicked when Sanajaoba, a BJP leader, met Shah at his residence during a visit to the national capital recently. Police went to Leichombam's Thangmeiband residence on July 26 but he was not there, his family members said.
Officials then informed them about the charges pressed against him and said they were invoked because of his Facebook post, they said.
"I have been charged with sedition by the government for exercising my freedom of speech. To protect Kangleipak from forceful assimilation is a duty," he later posted on Facebook.
Kangleipak is the native name of the state.
Leichombam contested the Manipur elections in 2016 from the Thangmeiband constituency after he co-founded the Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance outfit along with activist Irom Sharmila.
They founded the party and fought the polls after Sharmila broke her 16-year fast for the removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Manipur, but they could not win.
Hitting out at the BJP government over the sedition charges, Leichombam said in a Facebook post earlier in the day that the chief minister was a "puppet of Hindutva colonialism".
"MK Gandhi, Tilak, Arundhati Roy & Hijam Irabot. Today, I proudly join them. Sedition 124 (a) is a colonial law. Birenji is a puppet of Hindutva Colonialism (sic)," he wrote, criticising Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
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4 held for sexually assaulting woman, girl on moving bus after social media alert in UP's Agra
Agra (UP) (PTI): Four people were arrested, after a prompt response by police following a social media alert, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and a girl inside a moving bus here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official police statement, at 12:27 am on April 27, information was received on the social media platform X about an incident of sexual assault on a bus travelling from Kanpur to Ahmedabad, which was approaching Namner crossing in Agra.
Acting under the direction of Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the Agra Police social media team immediately alerted the Rakabganj police station within minutes and coordinated with the victims to confirm the incident and obtain the exact location, it stated.
Police teams launched intensive checking at Namner crossing and intercepted the bus as it reached the spot. The four accused involved in the incident were apprehended on the spot, and legal action was initiated against them, the statement said.
The police said the swift response and coordination between the social media team and field units ensured timely action, bringing relief to the victims and other passengers, who expressed gratitude towards the police, it added.
