Kochi: A man suspected of having uploaded a fake pornographic video of LDF's Thrikkakara candidate Dr Jo Joseph was on Tuesday taken into custody by the Kerala Police from neighbouring Tamil Nadu. A senior officer of Thrikkakara police station, where a case under section 67A of the Information Technology (IT) Act has been registered, said that the suspect was en-route to Ernakulam and that he has not been arrested yet.
Section 67A of the IT Act provides the punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act. For the first conviction under the provision, the maximum sentence is 5 years imprisonment and with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. For a second or subsequent convictions, the maximum sentence is 7 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
The officer said that further steps would be taken after the suspect's phone was examined. Last week, the police had arrested four others who had shared and commented on the fake video and all of them are out on bail presently. The case was registered on a complaint received from CPI(M) leader M Swaraj.
Amidst rumours that the person suspected of having uploaded the video was allegedly affiliated to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), senior leaders of the party and UDF denied the charge. IUML MLA from Kottakkal, Abid Hussain Thangal, told reporters that the suspect was never involved in any of the activities of the party or its youth wing and they have seen him for the first time on TV.
Meanwhile, Joseph told media that he wants the truth to come out and for people to know what the truth is. He said that UDF had contended that police only arrested those who shared the fake video and not those who uploaded it. Now the person who is suspected of uploading the video has been found and it is believed that he is a UDF worker, Joseph said and added that the fake video was circulated keeping in view the by-election and to target the LDF candidate.
CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan alleged that UDF was behind the fake video as they feared a defeat in the by-election. He further alleged that such ugly incidents indicate the lengths to which the opposition would go to win. He said that such an incident has never happened in the past and all efforts are being made by the police to find everyone involved in it.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan denied the allegations of the Left front and said the fake video was the outcome of internal problems in LDF. He said the allegation that the person suspected of uploading the video was a IUML worker was "all lies". He said such lies have been concocted by the Left front to save face as the fake video came out from their centres. (PTI)
