Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) The Maharashtra government will appoint a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged morphed video of Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Surve and the party’s deputy leader Sheetal Mhatre, state Minister Shamburaj Desai said on Monday, while police arrested a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction in connection with the episode.
With this, five persons have been arrested in the case so far.
Speaking in the legislative Assembly, Desai said the SIT will be headed by a senior IPS officer.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena MLAs Yamini Jadhav and Manisha Chowdhary raised the issue in the House and sought strict action against persons who “morphed” the video of a public event, which was attended by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, local MP Gopal Shetty and Chowdhary herself.
The police had earlier arrested four people, including one Vinayak Davare (26), a social media state coordinator of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the minister said.
Davare had posted the “morphed” video on Facebook, while the other three had helped make it viral, he said.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai police on Monday arrested Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sainath Durge in connection with the morphed video case, an official said here.
Durge is said to be a close associate of Aaditya Thackeray.
The four accused arrested earlier have been remanded to police custody till March 15, the official said.
The arrested accused have been booked under sections 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 509 (gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 500 (defamation) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, the official said. PTI PR ZA ARU RSY RSY
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