Three Arrested For Circulating Morphed Photo Of Kerala CM

Three people were arrested on Monday by Kerala Police for circulating fake pictures of Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan. The morphed picture showed CM Vijayan having food on a plantain leaf at the newly inaugurated police station in his hometown Pinarayi on June 30.

The arrested have been identified as V.N. Muhammad, K. Maneesh and K. Sajith Kumar, as reported by Manorama Online. Muhammed and Maneesh both hail from Mattannur and Sajith is from Ancharakandy.

As per The Hindu, the three have been accused for defamation via online media. The fake photo shows the CM scooping up a ball of rice as senior cops including state police chief (SPC) Lokanath Behera are standing beside him. In the original photo, CM was examining the general diary after inaugurating the police station.

Police officers of higher ranks like inspector general of police Balram Kumar Upadhyay, ADGP Anil Kant, district police chief G Shiv Vikram and the station SI AV Dineshan were also present while the CM checked the general diary, reported The News Minute.

“The morphed photo which showed the CM eating rice on the desk was doing the rounds on WhatsApp. We arrested 3 people who forwarded the message to various groups. Underneath the photo was a message that claimed that senior police officers were enviously watching the CM relishing his food while they were on duty. The photo is clearly tampered with and we had to take action against whoever did this,” Station Inspector AV Dineshan said to The News Minute.

Several such incidents

As reported by Manorama Online, Krishnakumar Nair, a Keralite NRI, was arrested for issuing a death threat against Pinarayi in a Facebook live, which went viral. He was a native of Kothamangalam and lost his job in an oil firm in Abu Dhabi after several people complained against his Facebook post. He was arrested by the police as he arrived in Delhi last month and has been remanded.

In April this year, the police arrested a native of Kinassery. Kaladharan,45, was arrested for posting a defamatory photograph of Pinarayi on social media. He was taken into custody on the basis of a complaint from some Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) activists.

He had posted a photo along with a caption, saying ‘Ellam Seriyakkitharam’ (Everything will be set right). The caption alluded to the ruling front’s motto, ‘LDF varum, ellam seriyakum.’

Last year, the Kelakam police had registered a case against Jobin Pandamcheri, a Youth Congress activist, for posting a fake photo of Pinarayi wearing a bishop’s attire.

Also, read: Kerala: 10-Yr-Old Reinstated After Father Alleges Daughter Was Expelled From Madrassa For Sporting A ‘Bindi’