Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Saturday tweeted a doctored video accusing Trinamul of attacking BJP supporters in Budge Budge in South 24-Parganas district.

A link to his tweet and the video was shared in the official WhatsApp group the party uses to share news updates with journalists.

It is only after several journalists pointed out that the second half of the video resembled an old one, that Saptarshi Chowdhury, media in-charge of Bengal BJP, accepted the faux pas and apologised for sharing the doctored footage.

“We had received a doctored video which we had posted without verifying. We apologise for the same. It has been taken down from all social media platforms,” Chowdhury wrote in the WhatsApp group.

Several party leaders found the post in bad taste. “How can the party president not verify a video before posting it on social media?” asked a state office bearer of the party while speaking to The Telegraph.

According to this person, a part of the video shared by Ghosh on social media dates back to August 30. “This video was shot in Murshidabad. The person you see shooting was from Trinamul and the person who got injured was also from Trinamul,” he added.

BJP sources, however, maintained that a rally that the party took out at Budge Budge on Saturday in support of the contentious farm laws was attacked by Trinamul workers.

A fresh post was later put up on Ghosh’s Twitter handle.

The BJP’s IT cell has often been accused of sharing doctored images, videos and fake information that had led to violent incidents across the country. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in many of her administrative meetings, had asked the police administration to handle the spread of fake news strictly.

In April, the BJP shared a video of a man begging the chief minister to arrange food for his family during the lockdown. This man was heard saying that he would have to kill himself if the government didn’t arrange for his food. Bengal police investigated the video and found out that this person was a local theatre actor and was paid to enact the role of a hungry citizen.