BJP activist booked for morphing pics of Sonia Gandhi on Facebook

A youth, claiming to be a BJP activist, was today booked in Jalandhar for allegedly posting an objectionable picture of Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Facebook.

A case was registered against Sandeep Bhalla under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act on the complaint of local Congress leader Sanjay Sehgal, police said.

Sehgal, also an RTI activist, had filed the complaint on Monday and had also approached the police commissioner online on the matter.

"We have filed a complaint to the police regarding the uploading of the picture by Bhalla on Facebook and other such photographs posted by BJP activists.

"We have also sent a morphed picture of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to the police which was uploaded by another BJP activist," said Sehgal.

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According to a report in the Hindustan Times, state BJP president Kamal Sharma, during a press conference in Jalandhar on Sunday, had tendered an unconditional apology for the party leader's act.

"I will take strict action against the party member and the post will be immediately removed from the social networking site. Such acts will not be allowed," Sharma had said while addressing mediapersons. But Bhalla removed the photograph from his Facebook page only after the registration of the case.

The report further says Sehgal has alleged that another BJP worker had posted Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's picture, defaced by a footprint, on his Facebook page.

"We have moved a complaint to the police commissioner in this case too," the Congress leader said.

However, a report by PTI quotes the BJP state president Kamal Sharma as saying that Bhalla was not a member of the party.

"Bhalla is not a member of the party. He is just a supporter of the party. Despite that, we have asked the Jalandhar district unit to investigate the matter. BJP respects women and such incidents would not be tolerated," he said.

With PTI inputs