Bangla Pokkho leader Garga Chatterjee gets bail in misinformation case

A Kolkata court granted bail to Garga Chatterjee, founder of pro-Bengali advocacy group Bangla Pokkho, on a Rs 2,000 bond over alleged social media misinformation.

A court in Kolkata on Friday granted bail to pro-Bengali advocacy group Bangla Pokkho's founder Garga Chatterjee, who was arrested by the cybercrime wing of the Kolkata Police for allegedly spreading misinformation through social media posts.

The magistrate at the Bankshall Court granted bail to Chatterjee on a bond of Rs 2,000 and directed him to appear before the investigating officer in the case once a week.

Chatterjee was arrested on May 12 by the Kolkata Police for allegedly spreading misinformation and creating confusion over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) through social media posts during the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, according to officials.

Three criminal cases were lodged against him -- one by the Election Commission, while another was a suo motu case by the Kolkata Police, Bangla Pokkho member Kausik Maiti said.

He said that Chatterjee had already secured bail in two other cases and will soon walk out of judicial custody, having been granted bail by the Bankshall Court in the third case, which relates to the suo motu matter.

Chatterjee was arrested by the cybercrime wing of Kolkata Police after he allegedly ignored two summonses issued in connection with complaints lodged over his posts during the election period, the officials said.

The police action followed complaints from election authorities alleging that Chatterjee's posts violated provisions related to the model code of conduct and cyber laws by spreading misleading information and creating distrust around the voting process.