In an earlier article, we discussed how West Bengal police arrested a Hindu girl for a mere Facebook (FB) post against the rioters who had taken the state hostage. However, much before the FB post of the girl from Murshidabad’s Beldanga, the social media posts of Bengali vlogger Roddur Roy caught the attention of Kolkata police leading to his arrest.
On Tuesday, June 7, the Kolkata Police apprehended video blogger Roddur Roy from Goa. During his Facebook Live session, he allegedly used abusive words for West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee. He had conducted this live session on June 3, reacting to the untimely demise of singer KK during a concert in the state capital.
In the session that lasted for close to an hour, the video blogger accused the administration and state machinery of being incapable and ineffective. Roy had blamed the police for allegedly failing to control the crowd at the venue and the administration for not having adequate facilities or medical assistance. During this live session, Roy’s anger extended to various state political heads, including tall TMC leader Madan Mitra and Kolkata Mayor Firad Hakim, the CM, and her nephew.
The video instantly became viral in West Bengal and was shared widely by Bengali Facebook users. Some fans had also edited snippets of the prolonged ‘controversial’ video and shared it on various platforms. However, the original video has since been made unavailable on Facebook.
As per reports, on June 4, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Riju Dutta lodged a police complaint against Roy at Chitpur police station for supposedly abusing the state chief. The complaint also read that Roy had made fun of Mamata Banerjee’s literary award during his Facebook Live session.
In his complaint, Dutta alleged that Roy was a ‘repeat offender’, adding that he criticized the state government, ‘maligned the state of West Bengal’ and ‘perennially uses derogatory remarks against our police force’. Reports also state that after posting the original video on Facebook, Roy took to YouTube and uploaded a video on YouTube challenging the police to arrest him.
“Roddur Roy has been arrested in Goa and will be brought to Kolkata on transit remand,” a senior official of Kolkata Police was quoted.
After Roy’s arrest on June 7, Dutta hailed the Kolkata Police for their prompt action against the video creator. “This Vile person Roddur Roy, who recently abused our Hon’ble CM Mamata Banerjee and our National GS. Sh Abhishek Banerjee, Mayor Jb. Firhad Hakim and Madan Mitra, is arrested by Goa. I, Salute Kolkata Police for this prompt action”, he tweeted.
Roy has always been a controversial figure owing to his behavior on social media. His videos have always been derogatory toward political leaders and ministers. Roy had shot to instant infamy a couple of years ago after posting a contorted rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s songs, replacing the lyrics of the revered poet with expletives. By doing so, he had hurt the sentiments of numerous disciples of Rabindra Sangeet.
Back in 2020, Roy had posted a social media video abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insulting the National Flag of India, and using expletives for the country. “Go to hell PM Narendra Modi, Go to hell India…”, he was seen ranting in the video.
Though the mainstream media calls the PM Modi-led central government fascist at every available opportunity, it is worth highlighting that no actions were taken against the abusive video creator for his disparaging video against the country and its central leader by the BJP. However, when Roy tried the same antics against the CM of his state, the Kolkata police reached the other end of the country to capture him.
