Objectionable WhatsApp Forward Message Lands ‘Default’ Admin in Prison, Family Cries Foul

A 21-year old, Junaid Khan a resident of Talen town in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh State landed in jail earlier this year over the WhatsApp message forwarded in the group, which was sent by somebody else, reports TOI. The family members believe that Junaid Khan, a BSc student is paying the price for being a default admin as actual administrator left the WhatsApp group after objectionable forward.

According to the report from TOI, the youth was arrested on February 14 and was booked under IT Act and IPC section 124 A. Junaid was a part of a WhatsApp group in which objectionable forward was posted by the admin, Irfan. Some local residents filed a complaint at Talen Police station, and a case against Irfan and the admin was registered. WhatsApp Fake News: Narendra Modi Government to Distribute Free Cycles Under Pradhan Mantri Cycle Yojana 2018 on 15th August? Read Hoax Message

Police say Junaid was the WhatsApp group administrator when the case came to their notice. His family says otherwise. “Junaid was a member of the group, but not the admin. When the matter came to light, he was in Ratlam on family work.  It was then that the admin left the group and another member became an admin by default. But he, too, quit. Junaid became group admin by default. But he was not the admin when the post was originally shared,” Junaid’s cousin, Farukh Khan, told TOI.

Yuvraj Singh Chouhan, who investigated the case, he said, “Junaid’s family members did not say this when he was arrested.  Now, after the challan has been put up in court, they say he was the ‘default admin’. If they have any evidence, they should produce it in court.

Irfan, too, was arrested and when the matter came to our cognisance, Junaid was the admin of the group. There was no evidence or any other way to ascertain at that time who was the admin of the group when Irfan shared the post. We filed the challan from the evidence available with us.”

Simala Prasad, Rajgarh superintendent of police, said that “We are verifying whether other people were also admins of the same group. The family hasn’t told us that Junaid had become default admin. Rather, they have complained that some other people were also admins of the group at that time,” she said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2018 10:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).