According to the police, since Sunday – the day of the incident – Guha allegedly wrote Facebook posts that were "provocative" and he did not heed their requests to remove such content.THE KOLKATA police on Thursday arrested Manab Guha, who runs an online Bengali news portal, for allegedly sharing “provocative content” in the wake of clashes between two communities in Ekbalpur area of the city on October 9.
“Guha was arrested for uploading communally inflammatory videos on social media,” said a senior police officer. Adding that Guha was booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 500 (Defamation), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC and section 67 of the IT Act. He was remanded in police custody till October 24.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari tweeted, “I am the leader of the opposition in the state, making my stand clear that social media journalists like Manav Guha or others like Polumi Nag are doing honest journalism… my support will always remain with them.”
According to the police, since Sunday – the day of the incident – Guha allegedly wrote Facebook posts that were “provocative” and he did not heed their requests to remove such content.