Police to probe smear campaign against journo

Thiruvananthapuram: Police have registered a case and launched a probe into an alleged online smear campaign against journalist Sunitha Devadas.
According to statement issued here on Sunday by state police chief Loknath Behera, a preliminary inquiry was conducted into the complaint filed by Devadas, who is currently settled abroad. The officials of Hitech Crime Inquiry Cell at police headquarters, who conducted the inquiry, had filed a report stating that there was merit in her complaint. It was based on this report that the DGP issued the order to register an FIR.

The case pertains to circulation of morphed images of Devadas via oline platforms. The posts with the images carried a fake news article and sported the logo of an online news portal. Meanwhile, the portal came out with a clarification stating that they did not publish any such news article and shared the links of the Facebook accounts that posted the article.

Devadas had alleged that Sangh Parivar activists were behind the incident. Her stance supporting the entry of women in Sabarimala temple and Women’s Wall campaign by the state government is believed to have triggered the malicious campaign.

Devadas has a strong social media following, with over 1.50 lakh people following her Facebook page alone. She has regularly voiced her opinions on various issues through her page and her liberal views had often irked conservatives, especially right-wing activists.