Bhubaneswar: The crime branch of the state has registered a case against the news portal for allegedly publishing articles slandering about V K Pandian, private secretary for the Head of Minister of Naveen Patnaik.
It followed the cap on the heel of the arrest of losing Sudhansu, another news portal editor, on September 4th for allegedly publishing slanderous and obscene content about the Dutee Chand sprinter.
In the latest incident, Odia newsbook on September 12 published articles with the main headline ‘Pandian took Rs 40 Lakh to protect DFO?’ In the mysterious death recently from the assistant forest conservator, Saumya Ranjan Mohapatra, in Paradanghemundi in the Gajapati District.
Gajapati DFO Sangram Khera Behera has been under police lenses for alleged involvement in Mohapatra’s death.
The state government has requested Cyber Cell Branch Crime to verify article content after publication.
Inspector Bibhu Ranjan Sundaray, which is entrusted with the probe, called the article “wrong and evil” in his report.
“The reputation of several senior government officials has been humbled because of false news.
It also tends to affect the moral of the state administration.
The article was wrong and intended to spread rumors,” said a senior crime branch official to Ti.
Cyber cells have known that telephone numbers of the news portal, are listed on Facebook, belonging to One Lakka Rajasshekhar from Nalgonda, Telangana.
The case has been listed below it under the 465 section (penalty for forgery), 469 (forgery for the purpose of detrimental to reputation) and 471 (using as a fake document or electronic record) from the Criminal Procedure.
Recently, the Supreme Court has expressed serious concerns over some web portals and YouTube channels “spread fake news in the absence of regulatory mechanisms”.
A number of journalists who work for some doubtful portals have been captured in the state in the past recently for different violations.
Odisha News Portal Booked for the ‘slanderous’ article about CM Personal Secretary
