A district court in Tripura on Friday remanded social media influencer and content creator Amir Shokeen to police custody for another three days for further questioning in connection with a case involving alleged racial slurs and harassment targeting a tribal youth from the state
AGARTALA — A district court in Tripura on Friday remanded social media influencer and content creator Amir Shokeen to police custody for another three days for further questioning in connection with a case involving alleged racial slurs and harassment targeting a tribal youth from the state, officials said.
A police official said that the Additional District and Sessions Judge of West Tripura district in Agartala remanded Shokeen to police custody till November 15.
He will be produced before the court again on November 16.
The Tripura Police brought Shokeen from Delhi on November 10 on transit remand in connection with the case involving alleged racial abuse and harassment of the tribal youth of the state.
Following his arrival in Agartala, the police produced him before the Additional District and Sessions Judge on November 10 and sought seven days of police custody for questioning.
However, the court initially remanded him to police custody till November 12 for further questioning.
Accordingly, the police produced him before the court again on Friday, following which his police custody was extended by another three days.
A case was registered on October 22 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Shokeen was initially arrested by the Delhi Police from the Karol Bagh area on October 22 and subsequently produced before the Tis Hazari Court, which remanded him to five days of police custody.
A Tripura Police team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) travelled to Delhi to bring the accused back to the state.
Tripura Director General of Police (DGP) G.S. Rao had earlier said that the state police registered the FIR following the circulation of a video allegedly showing a youth from Tripura being subjected to racial slurs and harassment.
The video came to his notice on October 21, following which he contacted the Special Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Police Unit for the North Eastern Region of Delhi Police and the concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rao had told the media.
Preliminary information suggested that the video was recorded in Ahmedabad around one-and-a-half months ago.
The identity of the person who uploaded the video on social media had also been established, the Tripura Police Chief had said.
"We will take action legally, whatever is required, against the people involved in this incident," Rao added.
The video, which allegedly contains racially derogatory remarks against a youth from Tripura, triggered widespread condemnation and demands for stringent action against those responsible.
Earlier, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha had directed DGP Rao to coordinate with Delhi Police over the alleged derogatory remarks made by the content creator against a young tribal man from the state.
Union Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, along with several political parties and leaders in Tripura, including the CPI-M, Congress and Tipra Motha Party (TMP), condemned the alleged incident and demanded action against the accused.
Two CPI-M-affiliated youth organisations and two youth and student organisations affiliated with the TMP had also lodged police complaints in Agartala against Shokeen over the allegedly racist video targeting a youth from Tripura.