Delhi court grants bail to accused in Amit Shah doctored video case

The accused Arun Kumar BereddyBereddy was picked up from west Delhi on May 3 for questioning and was later arrested by the intelligence fusion and strategic operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell that is probing the case

A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to Arun Kumar Bereddy, who allegedly ran an account named ‘Spirit of Congress’ and identifies himself as a Congress national coordinator for Telangana on X, in the case regarding the alleged circulation of a fabricated video of Union home minister Amit Shah.

Arun Kumar Bereddy.

“The applicant/accused Arun Kumar Bereddy is granted bail on furnishing of bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- with one surety in the like amount”, said chief metropolitan magistrate Nabeela Wali.

The Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Bereddy (37) in the case on May 3.

Bereddy had moved a bail application through his counsel, advocate Eesha Bakshi, pointing out that he has provided all the information to the investigating agency and has no direct connection to the allegations made in the first information report (FIR) and is ready to cooperate in the probe.

The court while granting bail to Bereddy noted that the prime allegation against him is being the ‘admin’ of the WhatsApp group on which the alleged fake video was first posted for circulation. It was also observed that there were no other allegations on him of having posted or circulated the alleged doctored video on any forum.

The court also took into consideration the submissions made by the Delhi police that he has cooperated with the investigation and has disclosed the name of his associates/other suspects, one Pratap Manda who is the contact point of INC Telangana with an agency “Inclusive, Minds”, which is involved in the creation of fabricated videos.

The court thus granted bail to Bereddy while imposing the conditions that he shall join the investigation as and when required by the investigative officer (IO) and shall provide his phone number to the Station House Officer (SHO) concerned which shall be always kept operational.

It was further directed that he shall not leave the country without the permission of the court and shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat, or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case or tamper with the evidence.

Bereddy was picked up from west Delhi on May 3 for questioning and was later arrested by the intelligence fusion and strategic operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell that is probing the case.

Earlier, the Delhi Police on April 28 lodged an FIR in connection with the doctored video of Shah, where his statement during a Lok Sabha poll rally indicating a commitment to abolish quota for Muslims on religious grounds in Telangana was edited to make it appear he was advocating scrapping of all reservations.

The FIR was registered under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth), 465 (punishment for forgery), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 171G (false statement in connection with an election) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant section of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The Delhi police later also added section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC to its FIR after Bereddy’s initial interrogation suggested that multiple persons conspired together, edited the original video of Shah and circulated the doctored video clip on social media platforms in a bid to spread “misinformation and create public disorder”, police officers associated with the case said.