Man arrested for posting 'derogatory comment' against Mamata

A 28-year-old man has been arrested here for allegedly posting a derogatory remark against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on social media, police said on Wednesday.

Chandan Bhattacharya was apprehended on Tuesday night on the basis of a complaint lodged by Trinamool Youth Congress district president Shantanu Banerjee.

"We arrested Chandan Bhattacharya after a complaint was filed against him with Singur police station. A probe has been initiated in the case," Superintendent of Police Tathagata Basu said.

According to the complainant, Bhattacharya, a resident of Singur in Hooghly district, had posted the "derogatory comment" on Facebook on the day of Kali puja.

"Chandan Bhattacharya had posted the comment on October 28. Party workers could not trace his residence that day. However, the next day, they found out that he lives in Singur. Following this, I lodged a police complaint against him," he said.

The incident came close on the heels of Congress leader Sanmoy Bandopadhyay's arrest from North 24 Parganas district earlier this month for alleged violation of Cyber Crime Act.

Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had accused the police of arresting Bandopadhyay for circulating posts critical of the TMC government.

In May, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Priyanka Sharma was arrested in Howrah district for sharing a morphed image of Mamata Banerjee on social media.

The Supreme Court had granted her bail, asking her to apologise to the CM for the post.