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Tripura ex-CM Biplab Deb’s wife files complaint against ‘fake CIA report’
Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb’s wife Niti Deb sought investigation into a message circulating on social media about her husband.
Three days after Biplab Kumar Deb resigned as chief minister of Tripura, his wife Niti Deb filed a complaint on Tuesday seeking investigation into a message circulating on social media about her husband which she claimed was “false and defamatory”.
In the complaint filed at West Agartala police station, Deb said that the contents of the report are attributed to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and claimed that she got the message on her WhatsApp on May 16, content of which was “false, defamatory and full of incitement”. She demanded the police to take action in this issue at the earliest.
“On inquiry, I found that the WhatsApp number itself is fake and probably used unauthorisedly. The contents are attributed to CIA... I have grave doubts that the so-called report is... being circulated in the name of (the) ex-Chief Minister to create sensation and to infringe the security and sovereignty of the nation as a result of a deep-rooted conspiracy,” Deb wrote in her complaint.
“We have received such a complaint from the former CM’s wife and are investigating the matter. It won’t be proper to comment further at this stage,” said a senior police official on the condition of anonymity.
There is no intelligence agency called CIA in India. As Niti Deb’s letter didn’t specify it, she could be referring to the US agency CIA. Tripura police didn’t mention which country’s agency was Deb referring to.
In a sudden move, Biplab Deb resigned from his post on Saturday with less than nine months remaining for assembly polls in the state. He was replaced by Rajya Sabha MP and Tripura Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Manik Saha.
It’s speculated that Deb’s resignation was an attempt at course correction by the BJP high command ahead of the polls. The former chief minister had been in the news several times over his outrages and sometimes incorrect statements on various issues. There’s no clarity yet on what role the party will assign him in the run up to the polls.
Last year, two persons were arrested for posting derogatory content on social media related to Biplab Deb. Earlier in 2019, a college student, freelance writer and a security guard of a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator were held for allegedly spreading rumours against Deb.
