Manish Kashyap, a YouTuber wanted for allegedly sharing a fake video of attack on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu, surrendered before the police in Bihar’s West Champaran district on Saturday, officers said.
Kashyap (32), who runs a channel “Sach Tak News” on the video-sharing platform YouTube, has nine cases registered against him in Tamil Nadu and three by the Economic Offence Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police, in connection with spreading a fake video of attacks on migrant workers in the southern state, said additional director general, EOU, NH Khan.
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“Kashyap will be interrogated by both Bihar and Tamil Nadu police,” Khan said, adding he will be produced before the special vigilance court in Patna on Sunday.
“A Tamil Nadu Police team has arrived in Patna to interrogate Kashyap, who was brought to the EOU police station from Bettiah on transit remand,” said the ADG.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin rejected allegations of violence on migrant workers, warning of swift action against rumour-mongers spreading panic. He also reassured his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that no harm would befall workers.
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The issue rocked the Bihar assembly earlier this month, with leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalling the proceedings, claiming Bihari workers were being targeted for speaking Hindi in Tamil Nadu. A high-level committee of officials from Bihar that probed the matter, however, rejected the allegations.
Kashyap, who also goes by an alias Tripurai Kumar Tiwari, surrendered at the Jagdishpur police outpost in Bettiah on Saturday morning, around the same time a team led by deputy inspector general (DIG) Jayant Kant was carrying out the attachment process of his house in Majhaulia area of the city.
Kashyap had shared a fake video of attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu on his Twitter and Facebook accounts. However, the police later found out that the video was shot by the main accused, Rakesh Ranjan Kumar Singh, who was arrested from his village in Gopalganj district on March 8. During his interrogation, Singh told the police that he made the video on the instruction of Kashyap, who assured him of good money for the fake video, a senior police officer said.
Earlier, the EOU of Bihar Police registered three FIRs under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and IT Act in connection with fake videos on migrants being attacked in Tamil Nadu, and named Kashyap in all of them.
A resident of Dumri Mahnawa village in West Champaran district, Kashyap had unsuccessfully contested the 2020 Bihar assembly elections as an independent candidate from Chanpatia seat.
