Nitish's Bihar govt makes defamatory "anti-Government" social media posts a cyber crime

In a major decision, the Bihar government has made criticism of the government on social media an act of cybercrime. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has ordered the state police's Economic Offenses Wing to take necessary actions against those who share offensive and defamatory social media posts about the state government, any ministers or the Chief Minister. This comes as Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has been receiving major flak for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

The Economic Offenses Wing, IG Nayyar Hasnain Khan, in a letter to all secretaries of the state government, said that any persons and organisations making defamatory and offensive comments on social media against the government, respected ministers, parliamentarians, legislators, and government officials will be punished. 

"It has come to light that certain persons and organisations have been making defamatory and offensive comments on social media against the government, respected ministers, parliamentarians, legislators, and government officials," IG Khan wrote on the letter.

Here is the full circular:

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Nitish Kumar loses calm publically

This comes days after Nitish Kumar lost his calm publically and screamed at reporters. Nitish Kumar is facing Opposition's criticism and even some local BJP leaders have spoken against him over the law and order situation in the state. There are also reports of ongoing tensions within the NDA, with BJP trying to be the "big brother" and JDU placed at the receiving end. Moreover, JDU MLAs in Arunachal recently joined BJP, thus, escalating the tensions between the NDA partners. 

In his first response after the murder of IndiGo's airport manager Rupesh Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish asked the reporters about their allegiance. Nitish Kumar assured that the Police Department will catch the culprits soon, however, he accused reporters of "demoralising the morale of the Police force." Comparing the present situation of Bihar to that of 2005, a visibly angry Nitish yelled, "Tell me who do you support, why are you forgetting the situation of Bihar before 2005?"

"Don't forget the steps taken by the government against crime. This is painful that someone has been murdered. There is a reason behind every murder and we have formed an SIT team to investigate the matter. I spoke to the DGP myself and he has assured that the criminals will be nabbed soon. Do you know who murdered that person? If you know the tell me, if you doubt someone or you get a clue then come and tell me. You tell me but why are you asking such questions. Your questions are inappropriate and wrong. You do not demoralise the Police by asking such questions because our Police department is working. If Police personnel doesn't work then steps are taken against them too. Why do you forget this? I ask you do you remember what used to happen before 2005? Today the situation is better. Bihar is at 26 number in crime index."

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IndiGo's airport manager killed in Patna

In a shocking incident, IndiGo's airport manager in Patna - Rupesh Singh - was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside his home on Tuesday evening. The airport manager was shot multiple times outside his home in Patna when he returned from his duty on January 12. The Bihar government has formed a 5-member SIT to probe into the murder case. The incident took place at  Shankar Path in the Punaichak area in the capital city, which is a high-security zone and includes chief minister Nitish Kumar’s official residence.

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