Person behind popular X handle BefittingFacts arrested in Bengal over Mahua Moitra e-cigarette post, hours after criticising TMC for Messi event fiasco

The TMC government in West Bengal is facing social media backlash over the gross mismanagement during the recent visit of global football icon Lionel Messi in Kolkata. In a latest development, the person behind the popular X handle Befitting Facts has been arrested by the Bengal police hours after posted about Trinamool Congress MLA Arup Biswas “forcing Messi to click photos with his associates”.

X user Ankur Singh has informed that BefittingFacts was arrested at 1 am in the night.

While Befitting Facts has constantly been criticising the TMC government over the Messi event mismanagement issue, he may been arrested over his post about TMC MP Mahua Moitra allegedly smoking e-cigarettes inside the parliament.

In an X post published on 13th December, Shashank Singh, popular by the username Befitting Facts, wrote, “Every Messi fan should watch this video. The man in the white kurta is TMC MLA Arup Biswas, forcing Messi to click photos with his associates. The man in the black hoodie is the organiser, clearly unhappy. Mamata Banerjee arrested the organiser.”

In another post, Singh alleged that the way TMC leaders were getting Messi’s autograph and having their pictures clicked with him, it seemed that the event was a “TMC program.”

Two days before this post, ‘Befitting Facts’ had posted that TMC MP Mahua Moitra was allegedly smoking e-cigarettes inside the Lok Sabha.

“TMC MP Mahua Moitra smoking e-cigarette inside Parliament,” Singh wrote and attached a video of BJP MP Anurag Thakur complaining to the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla about Moitra’s alleged e-cigarette smoking.

It has turned out that the person behind the X handle, Befitting Facts, was arrested on a complaint filed by the TMC State General Secretary, IT & Social Media Wing, Nilanjan Das.

Das had filed a cyber complaint on 11th December, accusing Befitting Facts and another X user Subham, of circulating “fake, fabricated and defamatory posts” accusing TMC MP Mahua Moitra of smoking e-cigarettes inside the parliament.

“I wish to file a complaint regarding the circulation of fake, fabricated, and defamatory posts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) accusing Hon’ble Member of Parliament Smt. Mahua Moitra of “smoking e-cigarette inside the Lok Sabha”. These posts are manipulated, misleading, and factually incorrect, and appear to be part of a deliberate attempt to spread disinformation and vilify the reputation of an elected representative. This amounts to an act of character assassination and is causing reputational harm as well as misleading the public regarding the dignity and decorum of the Lok Sabha,” Das wrote in his cyber complaint.

The TMC office bearer sought an investigation into the individuals and accounts posting the “false and defamatory” content about Mahua Moitra. He also requested that the police take action against the Befitting Facts and Subham, in addition to ensuring that the social media platform X removes the content in question.

Sharing the complaint on his X handle, Nilanjan Das wrote, “Filed a complaint against BJP IT cell morons @subhsays @BefittingFacts for posting baseless, defamatory tweets against MP @MahuaMoitra.”

Notably, Nilanjan Das’s verified X handle was suspended by X on 13th December.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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