Sabarpreet Singh, a young entrepreneur and founder of e-commerce website “Made in Ranchi” has been arrested after posting a meme targeted on Chief Minister of Ranchi, Raghubeer Das that has received tremendous criticism both online and offline.
He has been convicted on charges of impersonation, forgery, defamation among others for provoking a campaign for freedom on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
“Made in Ranchi” is an entertainment website that covers and creates stories, events and news around Ranchi popular on social media platforms.
While, this is not the first time we have seen a meme go viral targeting CM or political leaders, yet it is the first incident that has led to the creator being arrested to set an example for others.
The man posted a meme targeting CM chiding opposition members in the Assembly juxtaposed using a popular mouth freshener logo, which went viral across media platforms in no time.
In a 32-second long video clip that surfaced on Twitter and Facebook via ” Made in Ranchi” account on 1 April 2018, a popular Bollywood song plays in the backdrop highlighting the phrase “Mirchi Lagi” followed by a footage of the CM repeating the same phrase while rebuking MLA’s in the assembly.The video has voiceovers from the popular Mentos ad used in between.
Booked under IPC, section 419(impersonation), section 468(forgery), section 420(fraud), section 105( subsequent offense), section 103(false trademark) of the Trademarks Act, 1999, Singh will be subjected to a maximum punishment of seven years in jail and a fine if found guilty.
An entrepreneur on the promise of anonymity said, ” It is strange why Mentos chose to act in this case. It should have simply sent an objection to Made in Ranchi. Arresting the meme creator seems a stringent move” fueling into the sentiments that were expressed all over social media following Singh’s arrest.