Sandeshkhali 'mistruth' spread by BJP using money, says Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on May 5 alleged that the "mistruth" about Sandeshkhali was spread by the BJP using money.

Banerjee called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop "shedding crocodile tears" as the "conspiracy hatched by the saffron party" has come to the fore with the unravelling of a recent sting.

"Did anyone ever imagine that BJP would stoop so low that it would spread canards on Sandeshkhali? Don't dishonour the mothers of West Bengal by leveling such heinous allegations. Don't dare try to disrespect women of the state by offering them money to level false allegations against our party," Banerjee said.

The TMC on Saturday released a video on social media, in which a man, who claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, was behind the "whole conspiracy".

However, Gangadhar Kayl, the BJP leader who featured in the alleged clip  claimed that his facial features and voice were manipulated using AI technology to fabricate the video.

"I have come across a video... where it can be seen that the same has been made using my face and the voice has been modulated using Artificial Intelligence,"  Kayl stated, emphasizing that the intention was to mislead the public and disrupt ongoing investigations. He also accused Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee of orchestrating the conspiracy to protect the actual perpetrators of the Sandeshkhali incident.

In the purported video, the man was heard saying that Adhikari had asked him and other BJP leaders of the area to "instigate three-four local women to level allegations of rape against three TMC leaders, including Shajahan Sheikh".