Maha: SIT to probe morphed viral video of Shiv Sena MLA, party leader; four held

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The Maharashtra government will appoint a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged morphed video of Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Surve and the party's deputy leader Sheetal Mhatre, state Minister Shamburaj Desai said on Monday.

Speaking in the legislative Assembly, Desai said the SIT will be headed by a senior IPS officer.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena's Yamini Jadhav and Manisha Chowdhary raised the issue in the House and sought strict action against persons who "morphed" the video of a public event, which was attended by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, local MP Gopal Shetty and Chowdhary herself.

The police have arrested four people, including one Vinayak Davare (26), a social media state coordinator of the Shiv Sena UBT faction, the minister said.

Davare had posted the "morphed" video on Facebook, while the other three had helped make it viral, he said.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai police on Monday detained Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sainath Durge in connection with the morphed video case, an official said here.

Durge is a close associate of Aditya Thackeray.

A morphed video of Mhatre and Surve went viral on social media, in which she is seen giving the MLA a peck on the cheek while the duo along with other party leaders, including the chief minister, were waving to a crowd at a event.

The four arrested accused have been remanded to police custody till March 15, the official said.

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The arrested accused have been booked under sections 354 (outraging a woman's modesty), 509 (gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 500 (defamation) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, the official said.

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