Twenty-one-year-old Junaid Khan, a BSc student from Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district, has been languishing in jail for the past five months because of a WhatsApp message that someone else forwarded to a group.
Junaid's family claims that he was at the receiving end of police action for an "objectionable forward" that another admin forwarded, thereafter exiting the group, The Times of India reported. Junaid became the "default admin" after the former admin left, his family alleges.
The police, however, say that their action was predicated on evidence.
Junaid couldn't write his exams this year, for he was booked under section 124 A (Sedition), and the court denied him the bail, Junaid's cousin, Farukh told The Times of India.
The daily also reported that when the police were apprised of the family's claims, they said Junaid's family didn't say any such thing at the time of arrest. "Now, after the challan has been put up in court, they say he was the 'default admin'."
“Junaid was the admin of the group when the matter reached us,” Pachore police station in-charge, Yuvraj Singh said.
Rajgarh Superintendent of police Simala Prasad backed Yuvraj, adding that they were verifying if there were other admins on the same group.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
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