UP Police books Sundar Pichai; removes name from FIR later
(Sourced from PTI)
Police in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi had booked Google CEO Sundar Pichai and 17 others last week over a video that allegedly defamed PM Narendra Modi but later removed the tech giant officials' names from the FIR, police officials said on Friday. Pichai and three other top Google officials' names were removed after they were found uninvolved in the case, a police official told PTI.
The FIR was lodged following a complaint by a local resident who claimed that he got over 8,500 threat calls on his mobile phone after he objected to the video that he first came across in a WhatsApp group and later on YouTube, where it has over five lakh views, the officials said. Google's response over the case is awaited.
Besides US-based Pichai, the FIR named three Google India officials including Sanjay Kumar Gupta, according to the FIR lodged at Bhelupur Police station on February 6. Among the rest named in the FIR are Ghazipur district-based musicians who allegedly made the video song, a recording studio, and a local music label company.
The FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 500 (defamation), 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy). Charges under the Information Technology Act's Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material) have also been invoked against the accused, according to the FIR, which has been accessed by PTI.
The names of Google officials were removed from the FIR the same day as it turned out that they were not involved in the case. Investigation on other points is underway, an official from the local Bhelupur Police station told PTI.
