‘Clerical error’: Police clarifies move against X users after BJP protest

Kolkata: Bidhannagar Police on Tuesday issued a clarification after BJP alleged misuse of police powers in seeking personal details of X users who had demanded the arrest of a BDO in connection with the murder of a Salt Lake trader.Bidhannagar Cyber Police issued a detailed clarification, rejecting claims that the data requisition was linked to the trader murder case. In its statement, the police said that the requests made to X's legal representative were strictly related to the investigation of three cyber cases and were sent following due legal procedure.
Police, however, acknowledged that an additional requisition email inadvertently mentioned the reference number of an unrelated case. According to the statement, the error was clerical in nature and was detected during an internal review. A corrective communication was sent to X, clarifying the mistake. "We deeply regret any confusion or misinformation caused by unintentional error," the Cyber Police said.What triggered the clarification was an X post by BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya, claiming that Bengal cops had written to the microblogging site seeking email IDs, IP addresses and contact numbers of five users who had commented on the murder of gold trader Swapan Kamillya. Kamillya was killed in Nov 2025 in New Town. Cooch Behar Trinamool neta Sajal Sarkar was arrested in the case, while another accused, BDO Prashanta Barman, remains on the run despite the Supreme Court directing him to surrender.Malviya accused cops of "political policing", alleging that instead of focusing on arresting Barman, police were attempting to "track, intimidate and silence voices critical of the TMC". He criticised what he called an "extreme misuse of power" and said criminal cases were being used as a pretext for digital surveillance.