Ghaziabad Police sends notice to Twitter India MD, asks him to join probe in Loni case

The Ghaziabad Police has sent a notice to the Twitter India Managing Director, asking him to join a probe in the case involving an assault on a Muslim man here, officials said Friday. Manish Maheshwari has been asked to appear at the Loni Border police station here within seven days to get his statement recorded in the case in which as FIR was lodged against the social media giant, a police official said.The Ghaziabad Police Tuesday booked Twitter, news website The Wire, besides some journalists and Congress leaders over circulation of a video in which an elderly Muslim man says he was thrashed and asked to chant ''Jai Shri Ram'' on 5 June. The police claim the video was shared to cause communal unrest.(Also read: Twitter did not 'remove false tweets': Delhi lawyer files police complaint against Twitter Inc, Swara Bhaskar, three others)Iraz Raza, SP Rural, Ghaziabad said, "Almost all main accused have been arrested in the case. Maybe one or two are remaining, they will be arrested soon. The incident was given a communal angle, action is being taken against those involved".(Also read: Explained: Twitter loses "legal shield" in India: What it means for the platform, why it happened)The Ghaziabad police maintains the incident took place because the accused were unhappy over the ''tabeez'' (amulets) sold to them by the man, Abdul Shamad Saifi.The FIR names Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub, Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Maskoor Usmani, Shama Mohamed and writer Saba Naqvi.(Also read: Legal protection of Twitter as intermediary is not absolute, it is compliance-oriented)With inputs from PTI