New Delhi: Outrage and condemnation have followed the Bengal Police’s registration of a case against the news outlet Maktoob Media over a social media post that reported on allegations by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra noting that Muslim IAS and IPS officers were excluded from meetings during Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state.The Press Club of India has condemned the decision, and called it an attack on press freedom. It has urged Bengal Police to withdraw the FIR, saying, “These allegations were made public by a Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and have been reported widely. There has been no official denial; yet the police have gone ahead with filing an FIR on the matter.”In a complaint to the National Commission for Minorities and the UN, Moitra had alleged that three senior Muslim officers, including Siliguri Police Commissioner Syed Waquar Raza, were sidelined from official meetings because of their religion, during Union home minister Amit Shah’s visits to West Bengal. Raza was asked to leave a July 18 border-security meeting in Siliguri. None of the state’s top brass had responded to The Wire’s questions on the allegations.The first information report in the case was registered at Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station on September 19, following a written complaint by one Saurav Banerjee. It identifies posts on X and YouTube, both made on Maktoob’s official channels.Maktoob has noted that it learned about the FIR after a communication from X saying that police have sought account creation, login and Android device details for the X handle, @MaktoobMedia.In a post on X, Maktoob founder Aslah Kayyalakkath wrote that social media giant Meta has also removed posters relevant to this story from Instagram in India following a legal demand under the IT Rules. In a separate post, Kayyalakkath noted that they were uploaded again.“Those posters reached nearly one million people within hours. Shah is afraid of how far the truth can travel,” he added.Meta removed these posters from Instagram in India following a legal demand under the IT Rules.Those posters reached nearly one million people within hours. Shah is afraid of how far the truth can travel. https://t.co/sQtX4qVbWz— Aslah Kayyalakkath (@aslahtweets) September 19, 2026The case invokes Sections 196(1), 299, 353(1)(b), 353(1)(c), 353(2) and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, provisions concerning alleged promotion of enmity, outrage of religious feelings, statements causing public mischief and defamation.The National Commission for Minorities has taken cognisance of the matter based on Moitra’s complaint and have sought a response from the West Bengal government.Moitra has also written publicly to Maktoob Media, asking the outlet, to “not bow to [Bengal Police]‘s bullying and FIRs.”India is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.