Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Feb 5: The Mumbai Police have told the Bombay High Court that there appears to be a larger, organised attempt to malign constitutional authorities and disturb public order, while opposing a petition filed by UK-based doctor and YouTuber Sangram Patil, who has challenged an FIR registered against him over social media posts targeting BJP leaders.

In an affidavit filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection), Crime Branch, the police said the matter raises serious concerns, particularly given that Patil is a foreign national visiting India on a tourist e-visa.

“It is a matter warranting thorough investigation as to why a foreign citizen, despite being a qualified medical professional, has engaged in posting defamatory, scandalous, obscene and inflammatory content without any factual basis against the Prime Minister of India while residing outside the country,” the reply stated.

The police said an FIR was registered on December 18 on a complaint by Nikhil Bhamre, BJP’s social media coordinator. Within days, a lookout circular (LOC) was issued. When Patil arrived in Mumbai with his wife on January 10, he was intercepted at the airport and questioned. On January 19, he was stopped from leaving the country. Patil subsequently approached the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR and the LOC.

According to the police reply, during the same period in which Patil posted content against the Prime Minister, another Facebook account named “Shahar Vikas Aghadi” allegedly shared posts linking the Prime Minister with a woman, accompanied by obscene remarks. Investigators noted that while Patil is a resident of Erandol in Jalgaon district, the location of the other account holder is shown as Chalisgaon.

The police said the investigation revealed that both accounts appeared to be working “in tandem” with the common objective of maligning and scandalising the image of the Prime Minister. While Patil has claimed that his post did not explicitly name any BJP leader, the police said several of his other social media posts were also directed against the Prime Minister.

The affidavit further stated that Patil was issued notices to join the investigation but failed to provide “satisfactory or truthful answers” to the questions put to him. It alleged that he deliberately avoided submitting his mobile phone and other digital devices for forensic examination, thereby obstructing the probe.

The police also claimed that Patil refused to demonstrate access to his Facebook account, stating that the one-time password required for login is received on a laptop kept in the UK. “Such conduct is evasive in nature and raises reasonable suspicion of deliberate concealment and possible tampering or destruction of digital evidence,” the reply said.

The police said it was also necessary to investigate whether Patil, despite being a foreign national, had any local assistance or collaborators in India who facilitated or amplified the circulation of such content on social media, especially material directly attacking the character and dignity of the Prime Minister.

Additionally, the authorities said the probe must determine whether Patil’s social media activity violated the conditions of his tourist visa and whether his visit to India had a purpose beyond tourism. The police warned that if Patil were allowed to leave the country, it would be “nearly impossible” to secure his presence for completing the investigation, given his British nationality.

Calling the petition “misconceived and premature,” the Mumbai Police urged the Bombay High Court to dismiss Patil’s plea.