KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal is once again in the dock over its approach to dissent and governance, after the arrest of the person behind the popular X handle Befitting Facts in the early hours on December 15. The arrest comes amid widespread public outrage over the gross mismanagement of the Lionel Messi event in Kolkata, an episode that many believe exposed the ruling party’s obsession with optics, VIP culture, and political appropriation of global icons.
The timing of the arrest has raised serious questions. The individual behind the handle, Shashank Singh, was reportedly taken into custody around 1 a.m., just hours after he posted critical content targeting senior TMC leaders for allegedly turning Messi’s visit into what he described as a “party-sponsored spectacle.” The development has intensified accusations that the Mamata Banerjee-led government uses police action selectively to silence voices that embarrass the ruling establishment.
Messi Visit Turns into Political Embarrassment
The controversy erupted following the much-hyped visit of Argentine football legend Lionel Messi to Kolkata. What was projected as a cultural and sporting milestone quickly degenerated into a public relations disaster, as videos surfaced showing politicians crowding the football icon, seeking autographs, selfies, and photo opportunities.
In a post dated December 13, Befitting Facts shared a video alleging that TMC MLA Arup Biswas, dressed in a white kurta, was “forcing Messi to click photos with his associates.” Singh further claimed that the event organiser, visible in a black hoodie, appeared visibly uncomfortable with the situation.
Every Messi fan should watch this video.
The man in the white kurta is TMC MLA Arup Biswas, forcing Messi to click photos with his associates. The man in the black hoodie is the organiser, clearly unhappy.
Mamata Banerjee arrested the organiser. 🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/tKJcAtaub4
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) December 13, 2025
“Every Messi fan should watch this video,” Singh wrote, adding that the organiser was unhappy and that “Mamata Banerjee arrested the organiser.”
The man getting his shirt signed is former TMC MP, Srinjoy Bose. He was arrested in Sharda Scam. Full TMC program it was. pic.twitter.com/uEMYi0F9z3
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) December 14, 2025
In another post, Singh remarked that the way TMC leaders were swarming Messi made it appear less like a sporting or cultural event and more like a “TMC program.” These posts quickly went viral, drawing criticism from football fans, civil society members, and even neutral observers who questioned why a global sports icon was being used for domestic political optics.
Arrest in the Dead of Night
Soon after these posts, reports emerged that the person behind the handle had been arrested. X user Ankur Singh publicly stated that Befitting Facts was taken into custody at 1 a.m., triggering alarm over the timing and intent behind the police action.
Mamata Banerjee is Coward!
Kolkata Police arrested @BefittingFacts at 1 AM just because he speaks against Fascist Mamata Govt.
TMC thinks it can silence everyone by using Police.
Only few months Left, Bengal will be free of Hitler Rule.
— Ankur Singh (@AnkurSingh) December 15, 2025
While the Messi-related criticism was the immediate flashpoint, it soon emerged that the arrest was formally linked to a separate issue, an earlier post alleging that TMC MP Mahua Moitra was smoking an e-cigarette inside the Lok Sabha.
Mahua Moitra E-Cigarette Post and Cyber Complaint
Two days before the Messi-related post, Befitting Facts had shared a video of BJP MP Anurag Thakur raising an objection in the Lok Sabha, in which he complained to Speaker Om Birla about Mahua Moitra allegedly smoking an e-cigarette inside Parliament.
“TMC MP Mahua Moitra smoking e-cigarette inside Parliament,” Singh wrote, attaching the video.
https://twitter.com/BefittingFacts/status/1999000975781265859?s=20
Following this, Nilanjan Das, the TMC’s State General Secretary for IT & Social Media, filed a cyber complaint on December 11, accusing Befitting Facts and another X user, Subham, of circulating “fake, fabricated and defamatory posts.”
In his complaint, Das wrote that the posts were “manipulated, misleading, and factually incorrect,” and accused the users of carrying out a “deliberate attempt to spread disinformation and vilify the reputation of an elected representative.”
https://twitter.com/Nilanjan_Office/status/1999039961287598238?s=20
The complaint further claimed that the posts amounted to “character assassination” and harmed the dignity and decorum of the Lok Sabha. Das demanded police action against the accounts and also sought removal of the content from X.
Sharing the complaint publicly, Das posted, “Filed a complaint against BJP IT cell morons @subhsays @BefittingFacts for posting baseless, defamatory tweets against MP @MahuaMoitra.”
Ironically, Nilanjan Das’s verified X handle itself was suspended by the platform on December 13, adding another layer of controversy to the episode.
Pattern of Selective Policing?
Notably, the sequence of events, viral criticism of the Messi fiasco followed by a midnight arrest, reinforces the perception that the Bengal police function less as an independent institution and more as an extension of the ruling party’s political interests.
The TMC government has long been accused of using cyber complaints, defamation laws, and police machinery to intimidate social media users, journalists, and commentators who challenge the party’s narrative.
The Befitting Facts case has revived memories of earlier incidents where online critics faced legal action, threats, or harassment in Bengal.
Past Threats Against Befitting Facts
Notably, this is not the first time Shashank Singh has faced intimidation. In June 2021, Singh received a chilling death threat from an X account named @rosso_alpha, whose user described himself as a “Bengali supremacist.”
The message threatened to locate Singh in Kolkata and warned that he would be “cut into pieces and fed to my dog,” adding a communal slur against Hindi-speaking residents in Bengal.
Singh lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Department of Kolkata Police, stating that the threat was aimed at dividing people based on ethnicity and language. The threatening account was later deleted, but the episode highlighted the hostile environment faced by outspoken social media users in the state.
Free Speech vs ‘Fake News’
While governments have a legitimate duty to counter misinformation, critics argue that the TMC’s approach blurs the line between fact-checking and political vendetta. In the Mahua Moitra episode, the post in question was based on footage of a parliamentary complaint raised by a sitting MP, not a fabricated clip created outside institutional proceedings.
The aggressive pursuit of criminal action, coupled with public name-calling by party officials, has reinforced fears that “fake news” is increasingly being used as a catch-all justification to suppress uncomfortable narratives.
A Broader National Pattern: The Ajeet Bharti Case
The arrest of Befitting Facts also fits into a broader national pattern of state governments using police action against journalists and commentators, a trend evident in the recent case of journalist Ajeet Bharti.
In June 2024, the Karnataka Police, acting on a complaint linked to alleged remarks about Rahul Gandhi, sent a team in plainclothes to Bharti’s residence in Noida without informing Uttar Pradesh Police. Though initially feared to be an arrest attempt, it was later revealed to be a summons.
लगभग दो बजे स्वयं को कर्नाटक पुलिस बताने वासे तीन नवयुवक मेरे घर के नीचे आए और कहा कि नोटिस देने आए हैं। मैंने पूछा कि क्या आपने @noidapolice को सूचना दी? उन्होंने कहा कि लोकल थाना कौन सा है?
मैंने तुरंत ही स्थानीय पुलिस अधिकारी को सूचित किया और @Uppolice की दो गाड़ियाँ शीघ्र…
— Ajeet Bharti (@ajeetbharti) June 20, 2024
The case stemmed from a video where Bharti quoted former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who had alleged that Rahul Gandhi wanted to overturn the Ram Mandir verdict. Despite Bharti merely paraphrasing a reported political statement, he was booked under IPC sections 153A and 505(2).
कर्नाटक वाले विषय में कर्नाटक उच्च न्यायालय ने जाँच पर रोक लगा कर 19 जुलाई को अगली सुनवाई रखी है।
वरिष्ठ अधिवक्ता @ShyamAruna जी एवम् तेजस्वी सूर्या जी के दल से कुलकर्णी जी ने यह संभव किया। @Shehzad_Ind @MrSinha_ @Tejasvi_Surya समेत @BJP4Karnataka का बहुत-बहुत आभार।
आप सारे…
— Ajeet Bharti (@ajeetbharti) June 24, 2024
The Karnataka High Court later stayed the proceedings, observing that Bharti’s comments were based on reports carried by two national newspapers. The court noted that it was a “claim versus claim” scenario and questioned how the tweet could be branded as fabricated propaganda.
The Manish Kashyap Case: ‘Fake Videos’ and the Weight of the State
In March 2023, Bihar-based YouTuber Manish Kashyap, also known as Tripurari Kumar Tiwari, was arrested in connection with videos that allegedly showed attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu. The videos had gone viral, triggering panic among migrant families and sparking a political storm.
According to police claims, the videos were “fake” and had been created in Patna itself, allegedly to mislead law enforcement agencies in both Bihar and Tamil Nadu. Kashyap surrendered at Jagdishpur Police Station after Bihar Police conducted raids at his suspected hideouts. A special investigation team was constituted, and multiple bank accounts linked to Kashyap were frozen. The police stated that over Rs 40 lakh across various accounts, including those linked to the SACHTAK Foundation, had been seized.
तमिलनाडु में कामकाजी बिहार के निवासियों के लिए असत्य, भ्रामक एवं उन्माद फ़ैलाने वाले वीडियो को प्रसारित करने एवं आर्थिक अपराध थाना कांड सं0 3/23 तथा 4/23 के अभियुक्त मनीष कश्यप ने बिहार पुलिस एवं EOU के दबिश के कारण बेतिया के जगदीशपुर थाने में किया आत्मसमर्पण।#BiharPolice
— Bihar Police (@bihar_police) March 18, 2023
The Bihar Police further alleged that Kashyap was involved in financial irregularities and had multiple criminal cases registered against him, including a past arrest following the Pulwama terror attack for assaulting Kashmiri traders in Patna. The Economic Offences Unit subsequently registered an FIR against him.
While the state maintained that the action was necessary to curb misinformation, critics argued that the case demonstrated how quickly digital content creators could be criminalised, arrested, and financially crippled once their content triggered political or administrative embarrassment.
An Alarming Convergence
Taken together, the arrest of Befitting Facts in West Bengal and the criminal action against journalist Ajeet Bharti in Karnataka point to an alarming and deeply disturbing convergence across INDI alliance-ruled states, where political power, police machinery, and subjective interpretations of “offence” are increasingly weaponised against inconvenient voices. These are not isolated excesses of overzealous officers; they reflect a systemic intolerance to criticism and an emerging culture of intimidation.
What makes this trend particularly hypocritical is that the Trinamool Congress and the Congress-led ecosystem routinely posture as defenders of press freedom and free speech. On international platforms, in Parliament, and before global media, these parties accuse others of “authoritarianism,” “fascism,” and “muzzling the press.” Yet on the ground, their actions tell a very different story.
In West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee, intolerance towards criticism has become a defining feature of governance. From post-poll violence and administrative failures to exposure of corruption and now the embarrassing mismanagement of a global sporting icon’s visit, the state’s response has been consistent: deny, deflect, and deploy the police. The midnight arrest following criticism of the Messi event fiasco reinforces the perception that Bengal today is less a democracy and more a party-controlled state where questioning power invites reprisal.
The Messi episode itself should have been a moment of pride for Kolkata’s rich football culture. Instead, it degenerated into a symbol of political vanity and overreach, where ruling party leaders allegedly treated an international sports legend as a prop for personal glorification. The subsequent arrest of a critic has only amplified concerns that in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal, administrative embarrassment is answered not with accountability, but with coercion.
This pattern is not confined to Bengal. In Congress-ruled Karnataka, journalist Ajeet Bharti faced police action for merely paraphrasing a statement made by a former Congress leader, an action the Karnataka High Court itself later stayed, noting that the journalist had relied on reports published by national newspapers. Yet, before judicial correction, the damage was done: police intimidation, public vilification, and the chilling message sent to others watching closely.
The contradiction becomes even starker when one recalls that the Congress party had once officially issued a list of television channels and named journalists, declaring that its leaders would boycott debates on those platforms. That act alone revealed a disturbing attempt to blacklist media houses and pressure journalists into ideological conformity. When debate boycotts fail, criminal cases and police summons appear to become the next step.
Thus, while these parties loudly proclaim their commitment to “freedom of the press,” their actions betray a far more authoritarian impulse, one that seeks not to engage critics, but to silence them. Independent journalists, digital commentators, and social media users are increasingly learning that a tweet, a video, or a critical post can invite arrest, raids, or prolonged legal harassment.
The cases of Befitting Facts, Manish Kashyap, and Ajeet Bharti collectively underscore a dangerous reality: in large parts of the country governed by INDI alliance parties, freedom of expression is tolerated only as long as it flatters those in power. The moment it questions, mocks, or exposes, it is branded as “fake news,” “hate speech,” or “propaganda.”
As the debate over free speech, misinformation, and political accountability intensifies, the Befitting Facts arrest stands as a stark reminder that democracy is not tested when governments are praised but when they are criticised. And increasingly, under TMC and Congress rule, that test is being failed, not by citizens or journalists, but by those wielding power.
