A 20-second audio clip, which purportedly shows Bokaro MLA Viranchi Narain engaged in an objectionable act, has surfaced on social media at a time the BJP leader is in Delhi seeking a ticket for his re-election in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, the MLA called the clip “doctored by rivals” to defame him ahead of the polls. His supporters filed an FIR on Sunday against unidentified persons for the “doctored” clip, demanding speedy arrest of the culprits.
“The timing of this video just ahead of election clearly indicates that this is an attempt to damage my reputation,” the MLA told the media over phone from Delhi.
The clip, which started circulating from Saturday evening, shows Narain lying alone and fondling his privates. He is seen wearing a rudraksh garland, something his supporters claimed he never does.
Narain’s media in-charge Sanjay Tyagi said: “As soon as the issue came to light, the MLA personally talked to Bokaro SP P. Murugan over phone from Delhi and requested him to investigate the issue. The video shows MLA sporting a rudraksh garland but all of us know he never does.”
Vikas Kumar, personal assistant to the Bokaro MLA, lodged the FIR at Bokaro city police station, called this a “vile conspiracy” against his leader before polls. “There’s editing, mixing…it is clear the video is doctored,” Kumar said. “It is an effort to affect the MLA’s prospects of getting the ticket. We had expected that (his) opponents will try their level best to scuttle his chances of getting a party ticket. Now, we demand a probe so that the person or persons making and circulating the video are arrested.”
Bokaro city DSP Gyan Ranjan said a case against unidentified persons had been filed (case No 241/2009) based on Kumar’s complaint.
He said that the case had been filed under IPC sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 470 (forged document), 420 (cheating and dishonesty inducing delivery of property),500 (Punishment for defamation), 120 (B)/34 (several people involved in common conspiracy) and IT Act sections 66 (D) (punishment for cheating by impersonation using computer resources), 66(E) (punishment for violation of privacy), 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting of obscene material in electronic form. “We will take the help of all resources including cyber police station personnel” said Ranjan.
Narain was in the news for allegedly beating up and abusing an additional general manager of Bokaro Steel, Ajit Kumar, on July 16. The officer was assaulted by the MLA for stopping a group of BJP workers from trying to convert a pond on Bokaro Steel land into a Tiranga Park without the steel plant’s NoC.
