‘Minister’s son, the shielded accused’, turns out to be Bankura teacher’s son

Kolkata: A Bankura resident on Friday lodged a complaint that his son, Subhadip Singh Mahapatra, an intern at RG Kar Medical College, was wrongly identified on social media as the “son of minister Soumen Mahapatra who had gone missing after the Aug 9 rape-murder of an RG Kar doctor” and vilified. The father, Prabir Singh Mahapatra, who is a teacher at a primary school, has demanded police action against those social media profiles for false accusations that his son was involved in the rape and murder. He clarified his son was at the hospital all along, he was even questioned by police and that they had no connection with the minister.The Kolkata Police has so far sent notice to 60 online users for allegedly spreading misinformation and fake news on RG Kar rape-and-murder.

Among them was an X user, a doctor at a state-run hospital with 3.3 lakh followers, who said she was taking a break from social media after cops urged her to delete posts peddling fake news. Police have summoned two R G Kar doctors for questioning for falsely claiming they had access to the victim’s autopsy report and that “150 gm” of semen was found on her body. Cops have identified five doctors, who have been discussing the victim’s supposed nature of injuries on social media and giving TV interviews, based on fake information. Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal on Friday said “far too many rumours” were doing the rounds. “People are living in confusion due to this…UD (unnatural death) cases do not mean suicide. Semen analysis can’t be carried out with naked eye… we never made any call to the girl’s family, saying she had died by suicide… you are ultimately harming Kolkata Police, the city and most importantly, society,” said Goyal. Police have decided to reach out to a neighbour of the victim and explain to her why her interview on a YouTube channel, now being widely shared, had inconsistencies. “She was present with the family at the hospital, when we explained what had transpired. However, she still went ahead and gave an interview that was based on multiple fake facts,” said a senior officer.Another senior officer said, “One of the many imaginary and baseless rumours circulating on social media was that an intern, Subhadip Singh Mahapatra, went missing after the crime and that he was a state minister’s son. It was claimed he was being shielded as he belonged to an influential family. Subhadip’s photo spread like wildfire on FB, labelling him as the ‘real culprit’. A trial by social media ensued. Now, FIRs have been filed at the Tala police station and Sarenga PS in Bankura against wrong information,” he said.
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