BJP panchayat member arrested in Kerala for spreading fake news

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Police in Thiruvananthapuram has arrested a village panchayat member of the Bharatiya Janata Party from Kollam district in Kerala on Monday for allegedly spreading false news that Class 12 results have been withdrawn by the government.

Nikhil Manohar, a Bharatiya Janata Party ward member from Poruvazhy Grama Panchayat in Kollam, was arrested based on a complaint received from the officer of State General Education Minister V Sivankutty, a senior officer of Cantonment Police Station said, PTI reported. "He was arrested and remanded to judicial custody today itself, the officer said.

According to the police, Manohar had spread the fake news via a video uploaded on online video sharing platform Youtube.

An FIR under Indian Penal Code Sections 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using forged document or electronic record as genuine) was registered against him based on the complaint, he said.

Sivankutty also mentioned the BJP panchayat member's arrest on his Facebook page. The minister, in his post, said the man was arrested after a complaint lodged by the General Education Department.

"The video was deleted after filing of the complaint," Sivankutty said.