1 held, given bail
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 11 2026: A 50-year-old man was arrested for allegedly uploading a digitally edited and objectionable image of Chief Minister Y Khemchand and Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen on his social media account.

He was, however, released on bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal West, today.

The accused, identified as Laishram Mangibabu of Moirang Khunou Mamang Sabal, was arrested from his residence at around 11.45 pm yesterday by a team of the Cyber Crime Police Station.

He was then produced before the Court this afternoon, with the prosecution seeking three days' police custody remand.

The defence counsel opposed the remand plea and sought bail for the accused.

Submitting the case before the Court, the Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) for the State said the Cyber Crime Police Station's social media monitoring team came across the digitally edited and objectionable image at around 8.30 pm yesterday while monitoring social media platforms.

According to the APP, the image appeared to have been manipulated to portray the persons depicted in an inappropriate manner and was allegedly intended to mislead the public and cause harm to their reputation and dignity, particularly the woman depicted in the image.

The manipulated image was uploaded along with a caption written in Meiteilon.

During the investigation, the person operating the Facebook account was identified as the accused, following which he was arrested and his mobile phone was seized.

The APP submitted that during questioning, the accused admitted to uploading the post on his Facebook account using his mobile phone on August 9 .

The APP further submitted that the source of the original photograph, the device or software used to edit it, the source from which the image was obtained and the possible involvement of other persons are yet to be ascertained.

The prosecution argued that the accused needed to be thoroughly interrogated and that his mobile phone, computer and other electronic devices, if any, may have to be examined or recovered to establish the origin, creation and dissemination of the image and identify any other person or devices involved.

The APP sought police custody remand for a smooth investigation.

After hearing the submissions and perusing the case record, the Court observed that the offence under Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is bailable and that, apart from uploading the manipulated/morphed image, no other act had been attributed to the accused.

The Court accordingly ordered the release of Mangibabu on bail upon execution of a PR bond and a surety bond of Rs 50,000 each.

The Court also directed him to cooperate with the investigation and refrain from indulging in similar activities.

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