Default Admin In Jail Since Five Months Due To ‘Objectionable’ Forward On WhatsApp Group

An ‘objectionable’ message forwarded by somebody in a WhatsApp group has led to a 21 year old youth, Junaid Khan, being arrested and put in jail in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, the Times of India has reported.

His family members say that after the message was sent, the ‘actual’ admin left the group. However, the police say that they acted based on the evidence they had then.

“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 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 is quoted to have said to TOI.

Junaid was arrested on 14 February and booked under Information Technology Act and Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It is also reported that Khan was unable to give his examinations as the court had denied bail.

The police, however, say that the family had not informed them that he was the ‘default admin’. According to the report, this claim was made by the family only after the police filed the challan in the court. Now, the family members will have to provide evidence in the court support their claim.