FIR against tool kit authors, no one named yet: Delhi Police

Security personnel sit next to police barricades along a blocked highway as farmers continue to protest against the central government`s recent agricultural reforms at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border in Ghaziabad. Pic/AFP

The Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR with its Cyber Cell to investigate an "international conspiracy" to defame the country, in garb of support of the farmers' protest.

Special Commissioner of Police Praveer Ranjan said that the FIR has been registred for "criminal conspiracy" and an attempt to "promote enmity between groups" under various sections of the IPC. He claimed that the violence on January 26 looks scripted as mentioned in a toolkit shared on social media.

"We haven't named anybody in the FIR, it's only against the creators of toolkit which is a matter of investigation and Delhi Police will be investigating that case," he said to queries if the police has named Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg in the FIR.

However, her tweets on the farmers' protest have been cited in the case filed.

Earlier, the Swedish climate activist shared a "toolkit" advising people on how to show support for the protests.

The Delhi Police said that more than 300 social media accounts, which were seen spreading malicious content on farmers protest, have been identified.

The role of the Poetic Justice Foundation involved in massive campaign against India's farm laws is under scanner. The toolkit called for Twitter storm and a digital strike around January 26 and the police said that the violence that took place looks scripted.

Soon after the news of the FIR came out, Thunberg on Thursday tweeted: "I still #StandWithFarmers and support their peaceful protest. No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that. #FarmersProtest"

The Ministry of External Affairs earlier issued a statement, saying: "Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible."

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever