Morphed Pictures Of Pakistani Cricketer And Poonam Pandey Lead To Protests In Kolkata

Kolkata saw a string of protests Monday after a city-based English daily carried the morphed image of a Pakistani cricketer bowing before the portrait of a Hindu god the photograph, along with another, supposedly morphed, nude photograph of model Poonam Pandey.

The protests drew the attention of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who appealed to the public to exercise restraint. "It is the publication's own matter. The image is not proper and they have apologized for it. This has nothing to do with the state government or the state. I appeal to all with folded arms not to create any riot like situation in Kolkata," Banerjee was quoted as saying.

Describing the incident as "unfortunate", Banerjee said, "Some people are using anti-social elements to create problems in the roads" and appealed to people of all communities to maintain calm.

On her part, 20-year-old Pandey too appealed to her "crazy fans" to stop morphing her photographs. The Kingfisher model tweeted, "I am a peace loving person and I don't advocate any kind of violence... And crazy fans plz stop Morphing my pix".