Agartala, Nov 10 — Social media content creator Amir Shokeen was brought to Tripura from Delhi on Tuesday in connection with a case involving alleged racial abuse and harassment of an indigenous youth from the state.
Shokeen arrived at Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport in Agartala on Tuesday morning and is scheduled to appear in court later that day, police said.
According to the police, a case was registered against Shokeen after a video allegedly showing him making racial slurs and abusive remarks against a youth from Tripura went viral on social media.
The controversial video was reportedly shared in September. Police said Shokeen had allegedly recorded the video around a month before it surfaced publicly.
He was initially arrested by Delhi Police from the Karol Bagh area on October 22. He was subsequently produced before the Tis Hazari Court on October 24, which remanded him to five days of police custody.
Following the completion of the legal formalities, Shokeen was brought to Tripura on transit remand for further investigation into the case.
The video had triggered widespread criticism on social media, following which Shokeen issued an apology.
The victim of the abuse said to IANS, "Everyone should know what happened to me that day. First of all, I did not know him (Amir Shokeen) beforehand. I know one of his friends, but I did not know him, and neither had I seen him before. "
"At that time, they may also have been under the influence of alcohol...and as you saw in the video, they said those things to me...one cannot say such things to someone, especially to an unknown person. I was hurt (due to the remarks), but there were a lot of people at that time so I could not do anything, not even object," he said.
In a Facebook post, Shokeen claimed that the video was scripted and that the youth featured in it was known to him. He said the man had earlier worked at a friend's cafe in Ahmedabad and described their exchange as a humorous interaction in which both were joking.
Shokeen also maintained that he had no intention of insulting or hurting anyone through the video.
However, the police registered a case over the alleged racial remarks and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Officials also said this was not the first time Shokeen had faced legal action. They added that previous cases under Sections 323, 324, 504 and 506 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) had also been registered against the content creator.