Bhubaneswar, July 7 (IANS) The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old youth from Angul district for allegedly creating and circulating AI-generated, morphed and defamatory content targeting high constitutional dignitaries, including Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on social media.

The accused, Manoranjan Pradhan, is a resident of Patakumunda village, under the Bagedia police station limits in Angul district. He was arrested in connection with a case registered at the Bhubaneswar Cyber Crime and Economic Offences Police Station on July 4 under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

According to the police, the case came to light during routine social media patrolling on July 4, when officers detected allegedly objectionable content posted through the Instagram account, “funny_boy_manoranjan”.

The account was reportedly found to have uploaded and circulated AI-generated or morphed images and reels targeting high constitutional dignitaries, containing obscene language, vulgar gestures and defamatory content.

Police sources claimed that Pradhan, who is running an Instagram account (Funny Boy Manoranjan) and a Facebook account (Manoranjan Pradhan), had reportedly shared a number of videos (reels) on his account abusing the chief minister and other constitutional dignitaries using obscene language and digitally altered photos of the CM in an objectionable manner.

The accused also allegedly used derogatory comments, lewd gestures and defamatory remarks to describe various events. It is also alleged that he intentionally created and circulated the content via digital means to damage the chief minister’s reputation and mislead the youth.

It is worth noting that the Commissionerate Police on Sunday arrested a 22-year-old youth on the alleged charges of circulating objectionable reels with morphed obscene photos and videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Majhi on his social media account.

Meanwhile, reacting strongly against the arrests made for alleged objectionable posts on social media, the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the state government is attempting to suppress the voice of the people by misusing its power.

–IANS

grm/dan