New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Saturday requested the Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to submit his devices which he claimed were 'hacked' after a tweet with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's infamous quote linked to the 1984 Sikh riots featured on his Twitter account. As several prominent political leaders remembered former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on the occasion of his death anniversary, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's Twitter account featured a creative with this quote: ‘When a big tree falls, the ground shakes’.
"It is requested that you submit us the devices which you claim to have been hacked for conducting the investigation on the basis of the complaint made by you. Looking forward to your co-operation. Legal action is being taken," Delhi Police said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
ANI posted a screenshot of the now-deleted tweet that featured a creative with the quote: ‘When a big tree falls, the ground shakes’. "The tweet against my name has nothing to do with my own observation," Adhir Ranjan clarified in another tweet on Saturday.
‘When a big tree falls, the ground shakes,’ Rajiv Gandhi made this controversial remark in 1984 following the anti-Sikh riots in the aftermath of the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi.
This statement was widely criticised as it was seen as Rajiv Gandhi’s approval of the events that transpired after Indira’s death.
Adhir Chowdhury Lodges Police Complaint
After distancing himself from the tweet, the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha claimed that his Twitter account was hacked. He lodged a police complaint in connection with the incident at the South Avenue Police Station in New Delhi stating that "an unscrupulous, biased and a content tainted with absolute malafide was posted on my Twitter account when I was busy with the Party Programme on the dias and did not carry my mobile phone."
Earlier, in response to the issue, the West Bengal Congress chief said, "With all my conviction, with humilities at my command, I'm firmly stating that the tweet being quoted against my name is nothing but a malicious campaign being propagated by some unscrupulous elements, by some heinous forces who are inimical to me and my party", ANI reported.
He further stressed that he is going to take legal action against offenders, "So, I am vociferously refuting the content of the text quoted against my name. Today itself I am going to legal action against those offenders, if not digital criminals."
Notably, a similar gaffe was seen in 2016 when the controversial quote was tweeted out from the handle of the West Bengal Congress unit and deleted hours later.