The Gujarat Police have charged film-maker Avinash Das for sharing a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal, an official said, as per news agency PTI. Singhal was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
The 46-year-old Das had shared the photo on Twitter on 8 May, said Inspector HM Vyas of Ahmedabad Police's Detection of Crime Branch.
The photo showed Shah with Singhal at a public event five years ago, but Das tweeted the same to mislead people and defame Shah's reputation, the official said.
The official futher said that Das has also been charged for allgedly insulting the national flag after he posted a morphed picture of a woman wearing a tricolour on his Facebook account on 17 March.
Police Files Case Against Das
The official said that a case has been registered against Das under IPC 469 (forgery) and Section 67 of IT Act for his Twitter post on 8 May. In addition, he has also been charged under sections of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and IT Act for his Facebook post on 17 March.
Das directed the 2017 film Anaarkali of Aarah, starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra, and Pankaj Tripathi.
IAS officer and Jharkhand Mining secretary Pooja Singhal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, 11 May, in connection with the ongoing probe of the Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to the alleged embezzlement of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds. She was sent to five days ED remand, starting on Thursday, 12 May.
The ED had also seized over Rs 18 crore in cash from the house of a chartered accountant, who is allegedly linked to Singhal.
(With inputs from PTI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)