BJD Leader Amar Patnaik lodges complaint over derogatory Facebook posts targeting Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Aug 20 (UNI) Biju Janata Dal ( BJD ) IT Cell and Social Media Convenor Amar Patnaik today lodged a formal complaint with Odisha DGP Y.B. Khurania against the circulation of derogatory and defamatory Facebook posts targeting BJD President and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Taking to his social media platform X, Amar Patnaik condemned the “scurrilous” posts against Naveen Patnaik, who is currently recuperating in a hospital due to minor ailments, and against
V.K. Pandian and his wife, Sujata Karthikeyan.
“These posts have deeply hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha, who revere Naveen Patnaik as a member of their own families.

“The content was so insensitive, sub-standard, and in poor taste that I, as head of the BJD IT and Social Media Cell, was compelled to lodge a strong complaint with the DGP.

“Immediate action should be taken to ask Meta to remove these posts, identify the handlers of these pages, and initiate criminal proceedings against them,” Amar Patnaik said.

He further warned that if no action was taken, people of Odisha would be convinced that these posts were deliberately propagated by fake handles at the behest of BJP Odisha and the state government led by Mohan Charan Majhi, with the intent to cause criminal defamation, public outrage, and mental stress.

In his letter to the DGP, Amar Patnaik highlighted the circulation of defamatory videos on a Facebook account named “Odiaka Chhata.”
He described the videos as highly defamatory, derogatory, and malicious, clearly intended to tarnish the image of Naveen Patnaik and his close associates.

Expressing shock and concern, Patnaik said the videos were in gross violation of the Intermediary Rules, 2023, and called for immediate action against Meta for hosting such content.

He urged the DGP to register an FIR against the operators of the Facebook account “Odiaka Chhata” as well as against Meta, and to trace those responsible for creating and circulating the videos.

According to Patnaik, the acts of those behind the fake account prima facie attract offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Information Technology Act, 2002.