Congman sent abusive emails to colleague, held

The crime branch arrested a Congress block president on Wednesday for allegedly sending obscene and abusive emails to a senior party functionary following protracted internal rivalry.

The crime branch arrested a Congress block president on Wednesday for allegedly sending obscene and abusive emails to a senior party functionary following protracted internal rivalry.

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Senior police inspector Mukund Pawar of the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC), which functions under the crime branch, said Hemal Joshi, 35, the Congress block president from Mahim, has been booked under sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Under the Act, Joshi can face a maximum of three years of imprisonment if a court proves him guilty.

According to Pawar, in July this year, senior Congress party leader Ajit Sawant, 51, who is also the general secretary of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) received some emails in his personal account from an unidentified sender. The content of the mails were abusive and vulgar. Following the receipt of the email, Sawant lodged a complaint with the Mahim police station, which later transferred the investigation to the CCIC.

Pawar said it was learnt that the email had been sent from a cyber cafe in Mahim. The police then began going through the (visitor) log book at the cafe and CCTV footage, before zeroing in on Joshi, who lives in the Kapad Baazar area of Mahim. Pawar said Joshi was upset as he was denied a party ticket to contest from the 2009 assembly polls from the Mahim constituency.