A notice was sent to the city editor and the chief reporter of the newspaper warning the journalist of legal action in case of non-compliance.
New Delhi| Delhi Police called the report by The Indian Express ‘factually incorrect’ and also summoned the journalist who wrote the story.
Express published a story on 10 May claiming that the Delhi police’s probe into the FIR against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad indicated that his audio mentioned in the FIR was doctored.
Police questioned a reporter for about three hours on Monday in connection with the report ‘Tablighi FIR: Police probe indicates Saad audio clip was doctored’.
The reporter submitted a prepared statement with a copy of the Bureau of Police Research and Development’s guide/booklet “A guide for law enforcement agencies” on “how to spot and investigate” fake news.
The Tablighi Jamaat chief’s audio is referred to on page 10 of the BPR&D’s guide/booklet under the headline “Fake news and disinformation vectors”.
A report by Bureau of Police Research and Development, a Union Home Ministry think tank, which was supposed to be a guide to spot and investigate fake news was uploaded on 10 May.
A reference to the Maulana Saad, Tablighi Jamaat head, audio is on page ten under the headline “Fake news and disinformation vectors.” Unexpectedly, this report was taken down within a day of it being posted online.
The Indian Express contacted them on Sunday, BPR&D spokesperson Jitendra Yadav said: “There are some corrections being made in the booklet. It will be uploaded again after that.”
The Indian Express reported on May 9, that an initial investigation by the Delhi Police Crime Branch found that an audio clip stated in the police FIR against Markaz Nizamuddin head Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, maybe “doctored” and stitched together using various audio files.
Also Read: Yogi Adityanath Blames Tablighi Jamaat For Spread Of Coronavirus
The audio implied Saad had asked Tablighi Jamaat members not to follow social distancing norms and prohibitory orders
The Indian Express report dated 9.5.20 with an article captioned: Tablighi FIR: Police probe indicates Saad audio clip was doctored – Written by Mahender Manral, is not only factually incorrect but seems to be based on wholly unverified sources and purely conjectural imagination. https://t.co/pXf6krFQ9L
— #DilKiPolice Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) May 9, 2020
“The claims made by the reporter regarding the investigation are strongly rebutted. The news is not only factually incorrect but seems to be based on wholly unverified sources and purely conjectural imagination. The Delhi Police does not in any way stand by the story of the reporter,” Delhi police stated.
(Input from The Indian Express)
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