Inner Manipur Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam
Inner Manipur Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has strongly condemned what he called malicious social media posts that alleged he was involved in a car accident under the influence in Delhi. The MP in a video statement said his legal team is looking into the matter, and they have already contacted the cyber crime branch.
Mr Akoijam in a video statement said he was at a meeting when he got messages from well-wishers about some posts on X that alleged he was thrashed by a mob after a road accident in south Delhi's Munirka. He said he had to stop the meeting to give a statement to assure people that nothing of the sort happened, and that he was fine.
"I am giving this statement after hearing many people were concerned about me... This rumour, don't believe it, I'm perfectly alright. A non-event has been turned into an event and spread on social media. And some people will thrive on that. Our legal team is looking into it. We're already in touch with the cyber crime branch here. We will take necessary action," said the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor who won the general election this year in his first contest by defeating the BJP candidate and state Education Minister Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh by a margin of over 1.09 lakh votes.
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"In the meantime, thank you so much for your concerns. I'm perfectly okay. I was having a meeting with some delegates when they started saying there are lots of messages coming in. Please do not believe in these kinds of rumours," Mr Akoijam said.
An X user @ArijitNobody was one of the first to post the "malicious" content. Some of the other handles that posted it included @LianPhiamp30829 and @triballistic, while many others responded, people who are pursuing the matter with the cyber crime branch said.
Arijit Biswas, a resident of West Bengal, already faces a first information report (FIR) filed in violence-hit Manipur for alleged defamatory posts on social media against the state government, Chief Minister N Biren Singh, and Home Minister Amit Shah. Arijit Biswas had allegedly posted on X that Mr Shah and Mr Singh belong to a "terrorist organisation", among other "malicious" posts, according to the FIR filed by a resident of Manipur's capital Imphal. His previous X handle was banned in India following a legal demand.
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The Congress MP pointed out "those who have a communal and sectarian mindset" as behind many of the malicious posts on social media targeting him.
"Get ready as the fight becomes more intense for the dignity of Manipur, for our well-being... I expect more such kinds of false rumours to come up. Let's get ready for that. We shall overcome, and we will defeat these inimical forces against our people and the state," Mr Akoijam said.
"This is not new. Elders have told me these things will become frequent once I join politics... I think it is done by elements who want to break up Manipur, those who have sectarian and communal mindset, those who in the name of minority rights work to destroy Manipur. My vehicle was vandalised last year for speaking against them... Some elites in a community are misguiding young people with a sectarian ideology. It is all part of politics," the Congress MP said.
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The police in northeast states have, in some sensitive cases, sent their personnel to arrest people outside the state and bring them in. Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani was arrested from the state's Banaskantha district by a team of the Assam Police in April 2022 over his tweets on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was brought to Assam to face trial. He was later released on bail.
In May 2021, the Arunachal Pradesh Police sent a team to Punjab and arrested a YouTube influencer, and brought him to Itanagar under police custody. The YouTube influencer, Paras Singh, had made racist comments on an MLA and the people of Arunachal Pradesh.