The chief judicial magistrate, Imphal West on Thursday remanded a rifleman of Manipur Police in judicial custody for 15 days for allegedly uploading a video on social media with the intention to spread false information and mislead the general public regarding the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination.
The accused Khoisnam Shantikumar Singh, 41, son of Kh Jilla Meitei of Lairenjam Awang (Mekola), Imphal West was produced before the court through video conference by the investigating officer of the case with a prayer for remanding him in judicial custody.
During the hearing, the additional public prosecutor informed the court that the said video has severely affected the initiatives of the government and the Health department in curving the pandemic as many people lost faith in the vaccination and the ongoing vaccination programmes.
The video has also demoralised the frontline workers and will make them vulnerable to obstruction threat, intimidation and risk while performing vaccination, the additional public prosecutor stated, while praying to remand the accused into judicial custody for 15 days for investigation and further arrest of his associates.
Meanwhile, an application praying for rejecting the remand prayer of the investigating officer and to release the accused on bail was filed on behalf of the accused person by his counsel.
The defence counsel submitted that the accused person is an employee of the Manipur Police Service as Rifleman in the 1st MR, and he is also an international Wushu player. Further submitting that the accused is the sole bread earner of his family and there is no one to look after his aged parents, the defence counsel prayed for releasing the accused on bail by rejecting the investigating officer’s remand prayer.
“During the pandemic, when the government and its establishments are fighting hard to get everyone vaccinated, uploading a video which naively denounced the vaccine which the government and various organisations have approved is harsh,” the court's order mentioned.
Further mentioning that the accused being a government employee showed his irresponsibleness by making such remarks against the vaccine which may bring out unwanted outcomes, the court granted the prayer of the investigating officer and rejected the bail application.
