Neta, bizman, OC: Barrage of fake posts spares none
Times of India | 15 April 2025
12 Dhuliyan (Murshidabad): Everybody who is anybody in Shamsherganj is now battling fake posts and WhatsApp forwards. From senior Trinamool and BJP netas and the local police station OC to the locality's most prominent industrialists, everyone is anxious about fake posts.
Fifty-one-year-old Ramkrishna Singh, also known as Chunnu, Shamsherganj's most respected industrialist, is exasperated at fake posts claiming he was arrested by police. The posts alleged that he was an "RSS man" and had a huge stockpile of arms at his Dhuliyan home.
The barrage of fake posts had its impact: irate miscreants damaged Singh's garment mall in Dhuliyan, his plastic factory and an automobile workshop.
"I do not know what to say, frankly. Till the other day, people respected our family for our philanthropy. Over the years, I personally supervised and funded marriages of 800 girls and young men. I never asked whether they were Hindus or Muslims. I run the Janahar canteen here that provides meal for Re 1. I do not ask those who come to eat whether they are Hindus or Muslims. I do not know why I am being subject to such fake narratives. My worried kin are calling me from everywhere," he said.
BJP's Shamsherganj 2021 assembly candidate Milan Ghosh, too, has not been spared. Ghosh, now BJP's Malda (south) vice president, was also accused of stockpiling arms at home in the fake social media messages. The beleaguered neta stopped receiving calls from unknown numbers. "Some posts even say I was arrested. This is being done to target me personally," he said.
TMC functionary and former Dhuliyan municipality chairperson Mehboob Alam, whose wife Roshanara is a local councillor, said: "I have been blamed in these fake posts for attacking Hindu families and looting their homes. Instead, I was the one who went to stop the attacks on Friday night. I do not know why I am being targeted. I have been working to stop the unrest, not stoke it."
Shamsherganj police station OC Shibaprasad Ghosh was another inclusion in the barrage of fake posts. The posts claimed he was arrested; some said he was removed for his alleged proximity to RSS. Ghosh is posted in Shamsherganj and playing a key role in restoring peace and ironically battling the misinformation campaign. Some officers said Ghosh has been relentlessly campaigning in the locality against lynching, which may have angered some vested interests.
Bengal Police has been repeatedly warning people against fake WhatsApp forwards and social media posts. Multiple people have also been sent legal notices, police said.