AGRA: Agra police lodged an FIR against UP Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Nirmal Khatri on Friday for allegedly posting a morphed picture of an RSS worker disrupting relief work in Chennai on WhatsApp. Khatri has been booked under sections 469 of IPC (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) and 66D of the IT Act (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource).

On Wednesday, RSS leaders had gone to the police over a photo, circulating widely on social media then, that showed a group of RSS workers fighting with cops in Chennai. It showed them disrupting relief work. RSS leaders said the picture is old (of 2012) and had nothing to do with the organisation's role in the ongoing relief work at various places of floods-hit Tamil Nadu. Agra SSP Pritindar Singh had then asked the cyber cell to probe the matter.

“In a written complaint, an RSS functionary had alleged that Khatri circulated an old picture of an RSS worker being thrashed by the UP Police during a rally in Agra’s Rambagh area in 2012, and claimed it to be a picture from Chennai. The picture was shared on Facebook by over 400 people. After the initial probe by the Agra cyber cell, we lodged a complaint against Nirmal Khatri under sections 469 of the IPC, and 66D of the IT Act,” said Asim Chaudhary, circle officer, Sadar.

RSS Braj prant prachar pramukh Pradeep Kumar had earlier claimed that the man who is shown in the picture is Ajit Kumar from Agra, a farmer by profession and an RSS worker. “Presently, he is working for the RSS in Mathura and has never been to Chennai,” he added.

Ajit Kumar said he saw the Facebook post only on December 6 after he started getting calls from people about regarding his role in the Chennai relief work.

Khatri TOI that he did not share the photo “intentionally” and that it was removed after he heard that the picture had been morphed.