Dr Syed Ali Mujtaba
A FACEBOOK user recently shared a viral clip and wrote: “Traitor in Police -: Latest News: Shahnawaz Khan, who worked as DSP in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, was caught by an anti-corruption team with illegal weapons and crores of rupees. He was caught red-handed as he was handing out guns, pistols, etc. to his friends. Indeed, a Muslim can never be a patriot… even if he is in a government job; he is ready for anything to spread terror… now Yogi Baba will take this case well!”
This post was attached to the video and what essentially is a case of bribery was deliberately twisted to tarnish the entire Muslim community.
The story sequence goes like this; an individual arrives at the police station to file a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. He meets head constables Shahnawaz Khan and Yogesh Kumar who demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 which was later renegotiated to Rs 15,000. The victim comes to the police station with the bribe money along with the Vigilance Department team that entraps Shahnawaz Khan. This arrest was captured live by the Vigilance team to showcase its accomplishments.
Confirming that it was a bribery case, Rajesh Singh, a Vigilance team member refuted the false claims on social media. “Shahnawaz was arrested only for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 and there were no weapons or crores of cash with him,” Rajesh Singh said.
Shahnawaz is a head constable and not a DSP as reported in the social media. He was a Peshkar (person who does documentation) in the ACP’s office in Babupurva, Kanpur. The allegation of supplying weapons and crores of cash was only a canard that was spread by anti-Muslim forces.
Some people with anti-Muslim agendas are regulating social media with the sole purpose of spreading hatred against Muslims in India.
Such cybercrimes are new types of hate-mongering which systematically emerged under the BJP rule. Making use of the power of the Internet, such crimes are being committed and criminals go scot-free as there is none to rein in them.
The saddest part is that there is none to raise the issue of such injustices going on against the Muslim community. This is a chilling commentary on the status of Muslims in the country.
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Dr Syed Ali Mujtaba is a Chennai-based journalist. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com