PM Modi bowed before Saudi king? Scribe posts photo on social media, BJP files complaint

New Delhi: BJP on Monday filed a complaint against a journalist for posting a morphed picture on social media that showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi bowing to touch the feet of Saudi Arabia's King Salman even as the government said it is looking into the matter.

Arvind Gupta, the party's technology cell in-charge, filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police against the person working with a private TV channel for "tweeting morphed images of PM Modi".

"We have filed a complaint. The Cyber Cell will take due action in this regard," he told PTI.

The journalist, who later expressed regret for the "error", had posted a picture in which the Prime Minister is seen bowing before a Saudi leader. Modi returned from a visit to Saudi Arabia past last midnight.

The fake post led to anger on the social media, with BJP MP Maheish Girri drawing the attention of the I&B ministry.

Responding to Girri's tweet, in which he sought action against the person who had posted the fake picture, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said, "Dear Shri MaheishGirri Ji, I have instructed MIB_India to review the violations."

Rathore added in his tweet that he would also seek help of Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in this regard.

Meanwhile, the journalist involved, expressed regret for his act in a tweet, saying "I sincerely regret posting a morphed picture of the PM on my Facebook page. I should have also verified its authenticity before tweeting it."

"I apologise to everyone concerned for this unfortunate error on my part," he said in another tweet.

The private TV news channel also said that a morphed picture had been posted by one of its staff.

"The organisation was not aware of this unfortunate lapse of judgment. We apologise to everyone for this confusion & deeply regret the error," the channel tweeted.