Two degree students from a college in Puttur, a town about 50km from Mangaluru, were detained over messages cheering for Pakistan on a WhatsApp group following an India-Pakistan cricket match. They were released on the same day.
The Puttur Town police detained Abdul Rashid (19) and Safwan (20), who are students of Indus Degree College in Puttur, on March 23 under Sections 116 and 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which relate to preventive detention.
Despite repeated attempts, The News Minute could not get in touch with the students at the time of filing this story.
They had posted comments such as “Pakistan Ki Jai” and “Pakistan Zindabad” on their college WhatsApp group, according to the FIR, on March 21. These comments were posted in the context of the India-Pakistan cricket match during the T20 World Cup on March 19.
Police say they picked up the two students after a local person reported that screenshots of the messages were doing the rounds on social media.
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Sharanappa told The News Minute that Puttur Town sub-inspector Abdul Khader had screenshots of the WhatsApp comments. He said that police had look into the case before it caused problems. The boys were traced based on the number displayed on the screenshot.
“We questioned them and realized that the students supported a few players on the Pakistan team and the others supported Indian players. Technically it is not wrong. However, someone in the group took screenshots of just those messages that mentioned Pakistan and they were placed out of context,” said Puttur Town inspector Mahesh.
Police produced the pair before the Puttur Tahsildar and also summoned their relatives. The two students were made to give an undertaking of “good conduct” saying that they would not indulge in criminal activities, said Mahesh.