Kolkata:
Recent developments in the Sandesh Hari case have thrown the political world into turmoil with the emergence of a 'bait video', triggering heated debate and accusations between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The controversy erupted after the Trinamool Congress claimed that a “bait video” had exposed a strategy to discredit the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Sandeshhari incident. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gangadhar Khair, who is said to have appeared in the video, quickly responded by filing a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleging manipulation by artificial intelligence (AI).
The video shows the Bharatiya Janata Party leader admitting that there was no rape or sexual harassment, and that the women were allegedly persuaded to make such accusations at the direction of party leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Kail claimed in his complaint that his facial features and voice were manipulated using AI technology to fabricate the video.
“I came across a video… where you can see that the same thing is being done using my face and the voice is modulated using artificial intelligence,” he said, adding that the intention was to mislead the public. The investigation emphasized that it would cause disruption to ongoing activities.
Kale also accused Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee of orchestrating a conspiracy to protect the actual perpetrators of the Sandeshhari incident. He highlighted inconsistencies in the video, citing audio and video desync, unclear facial features, and poor audio quality, alluding to deliberate manipulation.
“The speaker's face does not look right and has been edited in such a way that the face remains dark. The quality of the audio is not clear, but if subtitles were used and the same content was presented in such a way “Enough is enough!'' in a manner that could potentially obstruct an ongoing investigation,'' the complaint alleges.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sandeshkari also requested the CBI to investigate the video footage.
The video surfaced when West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, who had also criticized the state government over the Sandeshkari charge, was accused of sexual harassment by a temporary Raj Bhawan employee.
Women in Sandeshkhali state have alleged that they were raped and sexually harassed by TMC strongman Shahjahan and his close aides. This sparked massive protests by the Bengal People's Party and snowballed into a major national political issue ahead of the Sabah state election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attacked the Trinamool Congress and Ms. Banerjee, accusing them of shielding their leader, who was finally arrested in February after being on the run for more than 50 days.
