Man, booked for 'defaming' Tripura CM, claims BJP supporters

Almost two weeks after he was booked for allegedly defaming Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on social media, Anupam Paul has taken to Facebook again, claiming that his ancestral house in Gomati district was set on fire by the supporters of the BJP. Paul was charged with forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy on April 26 after it was found that he was running a "fake online campaign", purporting that Deb's wife Niti has filed for a divorce.

The Facebook user had been on the run since then. Deb described the rumour as a "deep-rooted conspiracy" to tarnish his image.

In a new Facebook post on Tuesday, Paul wrote, "My ancestral house at Jatanbari (Amarpur subdivision, Gomati district) was burnt for protesting against vulgar practices of BJP, I got the news today, my mother and younger brother were kidnapped by BJP hooligans on (April) 29 night. There is no news of my family till now." Uttam Banik, the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Amarpur, said, "A general diary entry has been made at Natunbazar police station. A portion of the house at Jatanbari was gutted after the kitchen caught fire. No FIR has been filed so far." Meanwhile, the Congress Wednesday condemned the incident, asserting that no one "has the right to take law in his own hands". "We condemn what happened at Jatanbari. If Anupam Paul has committed any crime, law will take its own course. Setting fire to someone's house means taking laws in hands," party vice-president Tapas Dey said.

Denying allegations of the BJP's involvement, spokesperson Ashok Sinha said Paul was "paid to malign the saffron party"..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)