The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police apprehended a 19-year-old from Angul district for creating and sharing AI-generated, morphed, and defamatory content aimed at high-ranking officials, including Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on social media. The accused, identified as Manoranjan Pradhan from Patakumunda village, was taken into custody following a case filed at the Bhubaneswar Cyber Crime and Economic Offences Police Station on July 4 under relevant legal provisions. The police investigation revealed objectionable material on the Instagram account “funny_boy_manoranjan” that contained digitally altered images and videos with offensive content targeting dignitaries.
The police disclosed that Pradhan, operating under the alias “Funny Boy Manoranjan” on Instagram and “Manoranjan Pradhan” on Facebook, shared multiple videos abusing the chief minister and other officials using indecent language and manipulated photos. The accused allegedly utilized derogatory language, lewd actions, and defamatory statements to depict various incidents, purportedly aiming to tarnish the chief minister’s reputation and misguide the public. Notably, this arrest follows a similar incident where another individual was detained for circulating objectionable content involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Majhi on social media.
In response to the arrests related to objectionable social media posts, the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) criticized the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the state government of suppressing public voices through power misuse.
