Karnataka

Bengaluru techies booked for raising pro-Pakistan slogans on Clubhouse chat

Written by : Prajwal Bhat

Two software engineers from Bengaluru were questioned by the city police for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans on the audio chat app Clubhouse on August 15 and August 16. The engineers, who work in software companies in Manyata Tech Park in the city, urged members who were part of the discussion to change their display picture to the Pakistan flag. The group created on Clubhouse also carried the message 'Pakistan Zindabad, India Murdabad'.

Police officials from the Sampigehalli police station filed a suo motu case against the two engineers after coming across the audio clip of their conversation. The accused were booked under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). But the police have not yet made an arrest in the case stating that those involved had no connection with Pakistan and are residents of Bengaluru.

Clubhouse is a voice-based social networking application where discussions can be held. Police officials said that during the discussion named 'Namma Night Out' on the Clubhouse app, the two men urged members to change their display picture to the Pakistan national flag. The police said that they also discussed playing the Pakistan and Indian national anthems on the chat.

Police officials have not arrested anyone in connection with the case and said that they had issued a notice to the management of the Clubhouse app seeking details of all the participants to call more people involved in the discussion for questioning. Police declined to comment on the identity of the individuals involved in the chat.

Police said the accounts were created using nicknames and that they are looking to question all those who were involved. Those on the group had also dared police officials to track them down, a police officer told TNM.

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