The Maraimalai Nagar police under the Tambaram Police Commissionerate on Tuesday arrested a 42-year-old construction worker from Jharkhand on the charge of circulating a video in which he spread rumours that migrant workers from north India were being attacked in Tamil Nadu.
On March 3, he shared a video claiming that labourers from Jharkhand, working at a construction site, faced problems in Chennai and were being told to go back to their home State. The video also claimed that the labourers were beaten on buses and trains when they attempted to go back to their native place, besides being denied treatment at hospitals.
On the instructions of Tambaram Police Commissioner A. Amalraj, the police conducted an investigation and found that the video was recorded at Maraimalai Nagar and that it was uploaded by Manoj Yadav of Jharkhand and his friends who were working on a construction site at a deemed university.
The police said that on watching the video, the foreman of the site, Pankaj Mispri of West Bengal questioned the act of Manoj Yadav. There was an altercation between him and Manoj and it ended in a scuffle. Later, Manoj and his friend left the site.
A police team traced Manoj and questioned him. The police said he admitted to having circulated the video to gain popularity and create tension among labourers. The police received a complaint from the project manager of the site and registered a case at the Maraimalai Nagar station under Sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different regional/language/caste groups), 505 A (publishing and circulating reports containing rumours with intent to create enmity between communities), 505 (b) (making, publishing or circulating statements conducing public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code. Manoj was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
Published - March 07, 2023 10:41 pm IST
