A case has been registered in Mangaluru against two unknown persons, who have been booked by the city police for controversial posts on social media against late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Speaking to TNM, Mangaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Hariram Shankar IPS confirmed that two Facebook accounts are under the scanner of the police and a case has been registered against unknown persons. Further, it is being verified if the accounts are fake or original.
A complaint was filed by one Sushanth Poojari which claimed that posts ‘celebrating the death of late CDS and also expecting death of security advisor Doval’ were uploaded on the Facebook wall of two users, according to a report in the New Indian Express.
The accused have been booked under Section 505(1)(b) (circulating a statement with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community) of the Indian Penal Code, the report adds.
In Hyderabad too, an FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station on Thursday, December 9 over a Twitter post related to General Bipin Rawat’s demise. A Twitter user by the name Mustafa Riaz was booked under Section 67 of the IT Act and Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for criminal intimidation), based on a complaint by a man named Neelam Bhargava Ram, according to Cyber Crime ACP KVM Prasad.
The complaint said that the Twitter user’s posts were “wilfully inciting and derogatory posts against the late CDS Gen Bipin Rawat & Threatening our Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi (sic).” The complaint also said that the Twitter user had made “abusive comments” on General Bipin Rawat’s death. It also alleged that after trying to bring the attention of Hyderabad police to the post, the user changed his Twitter name to ‘Anshul Saxena.’
Cyber Crime Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) KVM Prasad said that at the time of registering the FIR, the Twitter account was deleted, and the user has not been identified. “If Twitter furnishes details, we can find out who it is. Otherwise, because the handle is already deleted, it is probably difficult to trace,” he added.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday, December 10 said he has asked the police to identify and initiate legal action against irresponsible social media posts rejoicing over the demise of CDS Bipin Rawat in a military chopper crash. Speaking to reporters in Haveri, he said that the police chief was directed to take legal action against those who have made irresponsible comments regarding a person who led the country's armed forces.
General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other defence personnel were killed when a Mi17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, December 8.
With PTI inputs
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