YouTuber Roddur Roy Arrested in Goa for ‘Derogatory’ Remarks on Bengal CM

The Kolkata police Tuesday arrested YouTube vlogger and musician Roddur Roy in Goa for making ‘derogatory’ remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee regarding the death of singer KK, according to media reports.  

A senior Kolkata police official told the Indian Express that Roy was arrested in Goa and would be brought to the West Bengal capital on transit remand. Several complaints were filed against Roy over his purported remarks, at different police stations in Kolkata. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Riju Dutta had also filed a case against Roy at the Chitpur police station, the police told the media. 

Roy reportedly used expletives against Banerjee during a Facebook Live session on the controversy surrounding singer Rupankar Bagchi’s statement on late Bollywood singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK. Roy allegedly made derogatory remarks against Bagchi, Banerjee, and her nephew MP Abhishek Banerjee, the Indian Express reported. 

Roy, who is also termed as a social media satirist, has often courted controversies for using expletives. This time round he is said to have “hurled a barrage of abuses” at other TMC leaders such as Firhad Hakim and Madan Mitra, blaming the ruling party for alleged mismanagement at singer KK's last concert in Kolkata, news agency PTI reported.

Roy's Facebook Live video has been removed from the social networking site by authorities. 

A day before KK’s demise following his performance at Nazrul Mancha, Rupankar, in his Facebook Live, had asked, 'Who is KK?'. In the video he was criticising West Bengal’s apparent obsession with Mumbai artists, according to a report in the Times of India. His remarks irked KK’s fans and he was immensely trolled on social media. He received massive backlash for his comment and even death threats to his family, and later deleted the live video from the social media platform. Rupankar also issued an unconditional apology to the late singer’s family after his untimely death. 

Read Also:Singer KK’s Death After Kolkata College Concert Shows Ugly Face of Current Student Politics

On May 31, KK died shortly after his performance at Nazrul Manch in Kolkata due to a massive cardiac arrest. His death has sparked a controversy and the government has received flak as well. A PIL was filed before the Calcutta High Court on Monday seeking a CBI probe into the singer’s death with the petitioner claiming that negligence on the part of the organisers and the police caused stressful conditions for the performer, PTI reported. 

Opposition parties in the state have also alleged mismanagement at the said event amid claims by some sections that the number of attendees largely exceeded the venue’s capacity, creating a harsh environment in which the singer performed. 

Criticising the Kolkata Police’s move, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Anupam Hazra asked why the police did not arrest Roy when he allegedly defamed Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, PTI reported.

Earlier, Roy had also mocked Paschimbanga Bangla Academy’s move to give a special literary award to the chief minister for her book of poems.