West Bengal: 25 injured as villagers clash after morphed images go viral

The residents of Dangapur village suspected the involvement of Sheikh Rakibul of neighbouring Purba Goalpara village in uploading the morphed pictures of the women on social networking sites on Tuesday.

At least 25 people were injured in a clash which broke out between two groups in Samudragarh town in Purba Bardhaman district yesterday after morphed images of members of a family were allegedly posted on social media./ Images: ANI

Bardhaman: Twenty-five people have been injured in a clash between villagers of Purba Goalpara and Dangapur over morphed pictures of local women doing the rounds on social media, a police officer said today. Twenty-nine people have been arrested till now in connection with the incident that took place yesterday and raids are on in the two villages, Additional Superintendent of Police(Rural), East Bardhaman, Raj Narayan Mukherjee said. The residents of Dangapur village suspected the involvement of Sheikh Rakibul of neighbouring Purba Goalpara village in uploading the morphed pictures of the women on social networking sites on Tuesday. Sheikh Rakibul's brother Sheikh Hijbullah claimed that the matter had been sorted out at a meeting held in Madanghat Police Station on Tuesday. The police, however, said no such meeting had been held at the police station. Yesterday, some people supporting Sheikh Rakibul clashed with villagers at Dangapur and both the groups attacked each other with rods, stones and sharp weapons, a local police officer said. He said 16 of the injured were admitted to the Kalna sub-divisional hospital and the rest were taken to nearby hospitals.