Loni assault case: Ghaziabad Police sends notice to Twitter India MD asking him to join probe

Three days after registering an FIR against Twitter, some journalists and politicians, the Ghaziabad Police has now sent a notice to Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari, asking him to join the investigation in the case of an elderly Muslim man’s assault, a video of which went viral on social media. The video was shared with a communal angle by several journalists and politicians while the Ghaziabad Police denied the claim. The video was shared claiming that the Muslim man was assaulted, asked to chant Jai Shri Ram and his beard was chopped off. However, the police claimed that he was beaten by the people whom he gave an amulet (Tabeez) which they believed did not work.

Since the video was being shared on Twitter despite a clarification by the Ghaziabad Police, the cops booked Twitter for failing to tag ‘Manipulated Media’ content allowing it to circulate freely.

Maheshwari has been asked to appear at the Loni Border police station within seven days and record his statement.

Yesterday, a police complaint was lodged against actor Swara Bhaskar, journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Asif Khan of Twitter India and Manish Maheshwari, at Delhi’s Tilak Marg police station as well by advocate Amit Acharya for allegedly sharing the video with an aim to disturb communal harmony.

The Ghaziabad Police had booked Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub, Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Maskoor Usmani, Shama Mohamed and writer Saba Naqvi for sharing the video without authenticating the content and not removing it despite clarification by the police.

While Abdul Shamad Saifi, the Muslim man assaulted in the video, purportedly said he was attacked by some young men and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, the district police said that he has not made any such allegations in his FIR lodged on June 7. The police have so far arrested nine people in the case. According to reports, those arrested include Pravesh Gujjar, Kallu, Adil, Arif and Mushahid.