Four Facebook profiles are under the scanner of Karnataka’s Cyber Crime police after a complaint was lodged by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) over social media posts that falsely claimed that former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa had passed away.
The complaint was made to the Cyber Crime Police in Bengaluru on November 22 by Ravikumar Neelappa, State Secretary of the BJP, and named four Facebook profiles in its complaint – those of Abhimanyu Kannadiga, Kannadiga Kavan, Pradeep Gowda and Ganesh Gowda.
“We have registered a formal complaint with the Cyber Crime police since the comments are politically motivated. We have made similar complaints in the past at the Malleswaram Police Station,” confirmed Balaji Srinivas, State Convenor of the BJP's social media cell.
The complaint points out a post made on November 19 by a Facebook user named Abhimanyu Kannadiga, stating that BJP leader Yeddyurappa had passed away. The post prompted responses from several other users on the social media platform, with many slamming the user for spreading 'fake news'.
Cyber Crime officials told TNM that the department will probe the complaint filed by the BJP. No arrests have been made in connection with the posts as yet. The police have registered an FIR under Section 67 of the IT Act (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form).
"In most cases, complaints are not taken up when derogatory posts are made against BJP leaders. It is more likely to be taken up if the posts are against a Congress or JD(S) leader," added a BJP official.
In August, a man was arrested for posting derogatory statements against Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Prashant Poojary, a resident of Bantwal had posted the statements against Kumaraswamy in Tulu on Instagram. A suo motu complaint had then been taken up by the police against the post.